I Found You
by The Night Owl is Addicted
Summary: Sakura goes out of her way to search for her sister, Sakuno. Now that they've found each other, and trying to have bonding time, the older sibling tries to find ways to make Sakuno happy. And what better way is there than to get Sakuno and Ryoma together?
1. unexpected guests

Gelly: So, before rewriting the last chapter, I thought I'd clean up the earlier ones first.

…I'm totally not just buying time, no wayyyy. *shot*

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS

oOo

Unexpected Visitors

oOo

The view outside was beautiful. The flowers in her garden were in full bloom, the grass was as green as it could be, and the trees were slowly dancing to the calming tune made by the whistling wind. She could hear the younger kids screaming in delight as they played to their heart's content—today was the last day on summer break, after all.

It was beautiful, but she paid them no mind.

Inside her room, she stayed still, face and soul empty and longing. The chair placed in front of the window was her make-shift haven as she stared at the passing forms of children.

Haven was it?

No, it was nothing like it at all.

'_Where are you?_' a warped voice ringed inside her head. '_How long has it been?'_

It was her own voice, asking rhetorical questions.

'_Will we ever see each other again?_

'_Would you still recognize me?_

'_Would you accept me back into your life?'_

A knock jolted her back into earth.

"Come in… Ah, Izumi-san, good morning, you seem to be in a good mood today," she greeted the visitor with a gentle but seemingly blank smile.

"Well, both of us should be!" The man was wearing a wide smile in his face, indicating that he was proud of an accomplishment that he had made.

"Really? And why is that?" She felt her heart skip a beat, she didn't know why but she suddenly felt revived by the man's previous statement.

Could this be it? Could this man be holding the answers to her previous questions?

"I've finally found them—her."

"You… have…?"

The man's smile grew even wider as he saw the expression she now held. It was a cross between utter shock and bliss. Pleased with her reaction, he handed her a folder to confirm his report.

She took, and opened it. After a few seconds of skimming through it, she continued to stare at the man and at the folder; no one could explain how she felt at that moment. The only way to describe it would be to say that her whole world had begun to lighten up.

There was a moment of silence as he let the young girl recollect herself and absorb the news fully.

"T-thank you." She blinked once, twice. "Thank you, Izumi-san, thank you," she repeated. She gave the man a genuine, sweet, wide smile.

The man nodded and felt his own smile incomparable to hers.

He knew he had done a good job.

After a few more words and transactions were made, he left, leaving the girl to gaze upon the window once more, but this time the smiling expression never left her face as she began to fully appreciate the beauty of the view outside.

She clutched the folder tighter to her chest, afraid it might disappear.

Slowly, yes, slowly the answers will come, and finally after all of these years, they can be together again.

She closed her eyes and breathed deep. She muttured a small prayer, ending it with a small wish.

"I hope you can still remember me, my Chibisaku… My darling Sakuno…"

oOo

"Oi! Get Up!"

Ryoma, aged 15 and still as hard as ever to wake up, responded eloquently with a groan before stuffing his head under a pillow.

"Hey! Chibisuke! Come on! Wake up already!"

The shouts reached deaf ears.

Annoyed, Ryoga, who was wondering why he volunteered to do the impossible (oh wait, he didn't. He was forced to do it) felt it was time to use his last resort. With a smirk, he took the ends of his younger brother's bed covers, and with the strength of more than ten years of tennis practice, he pulled.

A satisfying drop from the unrolled Ryoma was heard.

"Ouch! Hey! Why did you do that?!" Ryoma, who was now certainly awake, shouted.

"What? All I did was grab your blanket. You fell on your own." Ryoga leered and waved a finger in the air. "Mada mada daze, Chibisuke."

"You… What are you doing here?" Ryoma asked, shocked (Wait, no! He was _not_ shocked. He was just… not curious but still decided to use his rights to demand an answer. Yes, that was it) that his brother was here when he was supposed to be in America.

Ryoga shrugged. "Why do you ask? Am I not allowed to visit my wonderful family in Japan? Chibisuke, are you implying that I should be forever confined in America, deprived of the presence of my sweet and living brother?! How sad you are making me!" he said, ending it with his hand clutching his heart to feign sadness.

However, he was so caught up in his dramatic monologue (he even shed _tears, _damn it!) that he did not notice the younger boy leave his room.

oOo

At the dining room, the smell of Japanese food lingered in the air.

Ryoma approved of his mother's choice of breakfast and decided that he _might_ let his brother's rude style of waking him up slip. Might.

"Mom, why is Ryoga here?" he off-handedly asked as he sat down and began petting Karupin.

"Oh, Ryoma you're finally awake! Look, I made your favorite Japanese breakfast!" Rinko greeted the still-sleepy boy with a lively good morning and a steaming helping of his breakfast. "Ryoga's in vacation and came here to visit us, isn't that nice? He'll be staying here for a couple of months."

Ryoma just nodded (See? He was not curious and shocked at all) then proceeded to eat his food, ignoring his father who was trying to share his 'newspaper' and all the other perverted antics his father and brother did or discussed. The two managed to receive a blow from an annoyed Rinko and Nanako.

Breakfast thankfully passed by quickly enough, and soon Ryoma was ready for school.

"I'll be leaving now," he called out as he put on his shoes.

"Wait Chibisuke," Ryoga shouted from the dining room. Ryoma could hear him saying goodbye to their parents and cousin before Ryoma finally saw his brother exit the room with toast in his mouth. "I'll accompany you to school!"

As he approached Ryoma, the younger boy raised an eyebrow… and his head, because even though he grew a few good inches, he was _still_ shorter than his brother.

Ryoga simply shrugged, grinned, and said, "Well, I don't have anything better to do, and your school has the same path as this place that I'll be going to later." Ryoma did not lower his raised eyebrow. "…And I also wanted to see all the cute girls in your school." The older boy's grin grew even wider as he revealed his true motive.

Ryoma rolled his eyes at his brother's statement and started walking towards the direction of his school. Ryoga, assuming that he had been given permission, followed after with an orange that he grabbed from the table near the front door.

oOo

_A one-year-old Sakuno winced in pain as she tripped on her own feet. The scenery around turned even blurrier than before, and while she did not feel any real pain, she began sniffing._

"_Chibisaku! Are you okay?" _

_A little girl that looked older than her rushed to her side and wiped her faced with a handkerchief._

"_Did you get a bruise? Now, now don't cry! Don't cry, Chibisaku!" _

_Sakuno hiccupped and whimpered, making the older one frantic while trying to make her stop._

"_No, no, no! Don't! Chibisaku, look! __See, everything's alright. You didn't get any bruises! Please don't cry! Ah! I know, why don't we buy an ice cream to make you feel better?"_

_With this proposition the younger girl brightened up. The older girl, relieved, took her hand and led her to the ice cream man. They grinned at each other while enjoying their cones, the earlier accident completely forgotten._

_But she dropped her ice cream cone. She bent down to pick it up but it kept getting farther and farther away from her. No, it wasn't moving away from her; she was the one being taken away from it. She could feel two arms wrapped around her, lifting her up, taking her away. Taking her away from the cone… away from the other girl._

"_No, please! Why can't we stay together? No! Don't take me away from her!" The same girl, looking a bit older now, was trying to break away from the grasp of a woman. She was struggling to reach a two-year old Sakuno who wailing as Sumire held her. _

"_Your grandmother cannot take care of the two of you so you have to stay with us," the woman explained as she tugged on the girl's hand._

"_But I can take care of Sakuno and myself!" the young girl retorted and tried to escape, again._

"_No, you're still too young." The woman tightened her grip on the young girl. "You must understand! There is nothing else that you—we—can do." _

_And with that she took the struggling girl away. _

"_Chibisaku! Sis! I'll come back! I promise I'll come back for you! I promise, Sakuno!" _

_These were the young girl's final words to the baby. They reached out their hands to one another; both had their small tear-stained faces and tiny voices pleading to be with each other. _

_Sakuno pushed away from Sumire's chest. She wanted to be with the other girl._

_She cried and cried and cried, but no one could hear her voice. The alarm bells all around her were too loud, engulfing all the sounds coming from the little girl. It was almost… suffocating._

A 15-year-old Sakuno woke up from her dream, gasping. She used her pale hand to run over her hair, feeling her own cold sweat.

She stared at the ceiling.

The dream felt so real. Could it have been an old memory of hers?

Sakuno tried to rack her brain into remembering the things she saw. There was Sumire, an unfamiliar woman, and another unfamiliar young girl. The young girl in her dream seemed very important and familiar, but Sakuno cannot remember anyone who had ever called her 'Chibisaku'.

Who was she?

Shaking her head to dismiss the thought, Sakuno quickly turned off her alarm clock, squealing when she realized that it was the third time that it had gone off.

Luckily she set the alarm earlier for the first day of class. She still had enough time if she hurried.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she quickly dressed herself and fixed her hair to its normal braided pigtail style. She was in high school now, but she still liked her hair that way. She knew what the others said about it, that it was childish and out of style, but it was her own choice and with the courage she tried so hard to grow over the years, she let the hairstyle stay.

By breakfast, she had already forgotten all about her dream.

She was too busy thinking about the day ahead that it had slipped her mind. She blushed as she recalled her real reason for setting the alarm an hour earlier. It was not so she could arrive early for her first day of high school, but rather, her real motive was to catch a certain Echizen Ryoma on his way to school.

"Ryoma-kun," she whispered to herself.

Yes, after all of these years, her admiration for Ryoma Echizen still had not faded. In fact, it seemed to evolve into something more akin to love.

She had not confessed before, despite Tomoka's urging. She, however, did try her best in dropping hints here and there. Tomoka told her it wouldn't work. Ryoma was also the prince of denseness, after all. But what was she to do? Confessing was still out of her league.

She sighed.

Mada mada dane, Sakuno.

Despaired by her own train of thoughts, she didn't notice the person walking in front of her. The impact of the collision caused her frail body to fall backwards. She shut her eyes, waiting for impact and pain.

It never came.

Instead, steady arms managed to catch her and break her fall.

"Are you all right?" the man asked her.

"Y-yes…Sorry…" She slowly opened her eyes to see who her 'savior' was.

oOo

The Echizen siblings were making their way towards Ryoma's school. All along the way Ryoga was trying his best to start a conversation with his brother, but like everybody else, he failed. The younger boy would just reply with very few words… if he replied at all; most of the time he would just nod, shrug, glare, or completely ignore his brother (he was still pissed about the morning incident in his room).

Their 'lively' conversation was interrupted, however, when they heard someone squeak after bumping into them. They quickly turned their heads in time to see Sakuno Ryuzaki falling backwards.

Reflex was put into work.

"Are you all right?"

"Y-yes… Sorry…"

"No need to be sorry."

When she opened her eyes Sakuno was shocked to see the man who rescued her.

"Ryoma-kun?" she nervously asked. Was this a dream? Ryoma had his arms around her in a sort of embrace to keep her from reaching to ground. Could this happen in real life?

The man set her down while giving her a questioning look after hearing the name.

Sakuno blushed at her error. It was no dream, but it also wasn't real. Ryoma did not save her. This man, Sakuno sneaked another look at his face, simply looked similar to her prince.

"I'm so sorry!" She immediately bowed to her savior. "I t-thought you were someone else," she stuttered while looking at her feet and blushing three different kinds of red from the embarrassment she caused herself.

It seemed the man did not hear her, though, as he was too busy shouting, "Oi, Chibisuke. Do you know this girl? I think she just mentioned your name."

She raised her head to see him talking to another more familiar face. She gasped. "Ryoma-kun!" she shouted, prompting another round of blushing.

"…Ryuzaki?" Ryoma hesitantly asked, not really sure if that was the girl's name.It was easy to recognize her (at least by face), the granddaughter of their former coach, she still wore the same long pigtailed hair, after all. He reassessed her. Long hair, check. Clumsy, check. Stuttering, check.

Yup. Most probably her.

Ryoga nodded. "So you do know her. Oh! Hey, Chibisuke, is she your girlfriend?" Ryoma asked while a cheesy perverted grin appeared as he mentioned the term 'girlfriend'.

Sakuno and Ryoma blushed (in varying degrees).

"Of course not," Ryoma managed to answer while trying to hide his blush behind his hat.

"W-we're just…Um… We're just…" Sakuno paused.

What were they? She would have said they were friends, but even that status was questionable. After all, Ryoma probably doesn't even know her first name.

"We're just friends," Ryoma decidedly answered.

Sakuno's eyes widened. Ryoma did consider her as his friend! It wasn't as that much of an acknowledgement on Ryoma's part, but it was certainly enough to make Sakuno happy. It meant she wasn't just another classmate or acquaintance.

She was his _friend_.

"Really, that's too bad Chibisuke," Ryoga tried to sound disappointed. "But since that's the case, you wouldn't mind if I take her then, ne?"

Sakuno blushed as red as she could.

"You know, you are very, very cute! Would you like to go out with me?" The smiling Ryoga lifted Sakuno's hand and kissed it.

Sakuno was at loss for words. Panicking, she looked at Ryoma as if the boy had all the answers. Unfortunately, the only thing she got from glancing at his was that she knew that he was now bored.

She was on her own, it seems. She looked at the guy again. He was really nice and good-looking (he looked like Ryoma, after all), she thought, and he did save her life, but there was one huge problem.

"B-but…I don't even know you…"

The guy's eyes widened a bit. He then released Sakuno from his grasp and laughed. How silly of him!

"You're right!" he said in between laughs. "Sorry about that!" When his laughter died down, he gave a stunning smile to Sakuno and said charmingly, "My name is Ryoga. Nice to meet you miss…?"

"O-oh! It's Ryuzaki Sakuno... Nice to meet you, too, Ryoga-san," she said while bowing. "And thank you for catching me when I fell," she added with a sweet smile. She was surprised at how Ryoga was easily able to make the atmosphere light. Maybe because he called Ryoma 'Chibisuke'. The charming nickname could make any girl amused.

Ryoma saw the whole scene and was laughing mentally at how stupid his brother was. Sakuno had been amusing, too, looking so shocked and embarrassed. It was cute.

…Hold it.

_Rewind._

…Cute?

_Cute?!_

What was he _thinking_?!

It was definitely hormones, just the hormones of a regular, healthy teenager. Yes. Hormones.

The same hormones of a regular, healthy teenager that was currently making him feel jealous (god, why does he even know these kinds of emotions?) when Ryoga asked Sakuno out.

Ryoma frowned.

Stupid hormones. Go away. You do not help with tennis at all, anyway.

He looked at the smiling Sakuno.

And the stupid hormones started acting up again.

Annoyed, he walked away from them (figuratively and literally).

"Ryoma-kun is leaving," Sakuno gasped. Without any hesitation, she quickly toddled after him, leaving her conversation with Ryoga hanging. "R-ryoma-kun! Wait!" she tried to shout after him, but in reality, it was only as loud as a few decibels.

Ryoga was stunned at seeing a cute girl leave him in favor of his brother. How could anyone have resisted him?! He even put on his most dazzling act!

Then realization struck him.

Ryoga grinned. It was obviously a case of shy-girl-likes-oblivious-boy-who-secretly-tries-to-hide-his-own-growing-feelings-for-the-shy-girl.

He sniffed. His Chibisuke was (finally) growing up!

Oh, but he would definitely want to see more of this couple. He has already decided to be their stalke—er, that he shall bear witness to the growth of their love! Yeah! And then he'll make a script out of it and then send it to some Hollywood company to be turned into a movie.

He'll be _rich._


	2. Revelations

Gelly: So, the first chapter has undergone quite a lot of rewriting (took out a lot of those italicized internal monologues and god awful phrasing *flails* orz). Also, I still want to thank aena-chan12 and furubarulz1996-darkangelz for being my first reviewers. This chapter was dedicated to them, as well as reader713, sarcasticallythoughtful and 19animelover95 for adding the story to their alerts and favorites list. They really made me happy. X)

Oh and 'Chibisaku' is just a made up term. I still have no idea what it means.

oOo

Revelations

oOo

"Um, Ryoma-kun…?"

Ryoma didn't say anything, but he did turn to face her for a moment. She took that as a sign that he was listening and she continued her question.

"Uh… w-what class are you in...?"

"1-A," he answered monotonously.

"R-really?!" Sakuno almost bounced. "That's great… We're in the same class," she mostly whispered, seeing as Ryoma didn't look particularly interested.

Sakuno down-casted her eyes, every now and then taking peeks at Ryoma's figure—she still wanted to try talking to him.

"Um, R-ryoma-kun…?" Sakuno tried once more.

"What?" Ryoma gave the girl a slightly annoyed look. His reaction practically scared the wits out of her.

Hysterically, Sakuno tried to think up a remotely important topic. "Um, I was just wondering…" Wondering what? God, she was so stupid. She should have thought of something first! "Wondering about…"

"…about?"

Think Sakuno, think! Just when she thought she could finally strike a proper conversation after talking to Ryoga. It was so easy talking to him… Oh! That's it! "Ryoga-san!"

"…Ryoga?" Ryoma could only wonder (and feel annoyed—damn hormones) about how his brother got into the conversation.

"Y-yes, I was wondering about Ryoga-san…"

"What about him?"

Sakuno hesitated for a second before saying, "Is her your—"

"He's my brother," Ryoma cut her off.

So _that's_ why they looked alike. Good question, Sakuno! You managed to find out another thing about your crush!

"He was adopted," Ryoma then added.

That made Sakuno stop. "Really? But… why do both of you look very similar?"

Ryoma only shrugged.

Sakuno was still very curious, but she did not dare to ask again. Ryoma might get angry if she did, and she could not risk that.

Behind them, Ryoga was able to hear only bits of the conversation. He only managed to see Sakuno looking very happy when Ryoma said a number and letter, which the genius that he was guessed that it must have been his classroom assignment. He was also able to catch Sakuno saying his name while blushing, and an annoyed look that Ryoma gave her. Ryoga deduced that Sakuno was asking about him (_everyone_ wants to know about his gorgeous self, after all) and it made Ryoma jealous, because you don't want to hear the girl you like inquiring about another handsome fellow.

It was boring though, because after that, they seemed to have stopped talking. It was really too bad Ryoma did not inherit his or their father's charms when talking to ladies, he was waiting his chance! Look, they were already near their school's gates—

"Ryoma-sama! You're here!"

"I missed you Ryoma-sama!"

"Ahh! Hi, Ryoma-sama! How are you?!"

Squeals of numerous amounts of fangirls nearly caused Ryoga to be deaf.

Ryoga was surprised at the attention his brother seemed to acquire and was a bit jealous at all the girls screaming for him. He was also annoyed at his brother's reaction. The young boy just glared at some of them and tried to ignore all of them as he made his way through! Definitely didn't get anything from his or their father, the unlucky boy.

Sakuno, fully aware of the dangers she might get in standing too close to Ryoma, had already timidly walked behind the safe two feet away from him.

Fangirls were so scary.

"Ahh! Who's that guy with Ryoma-sama?! He's so cute!"

"Wow, he looks like Ryoma-sama!"

"Hi! What's your name?!"

Ryoga, whose previous pity turned to delight as the girls averted their screams to the 'guy who looked like Ryoma-sama', basked in all the attention they were giving him.

It was time to give them what they came to him for.

"Good morning ladies! My name is Ryoga, Echizen Ryoga. Nice to meet all of you," he said in perfect English. He topped his greeting off with a princely bow. More screams came from the girls. Some of them even swooned just hearing him speak English so fluently.

"Ahh! He's so cool and handsome!"

"Eeee! He can even speak English!"

"And he's related to Ryoma-sama! Kya!"

He continued to entertain all of them. They squealed even more when they knew that he also played tennis and that he had participated in various tournaments abroad. They couldn't help but be awed when he said that he lived independently in America. Ryoga loved the attention he received.

Going to Ryoma's school was definitely a good decision.

oOo

_My Chibisaku, I've finally come back for you._

_We'll be together again, soon._

_Very, very soon._

"Ah, you must be the new teacher. Are you sure you can be able to handle a class on such short notice? You just applied today, the same time as the beginning of classes, and from what I've been informed you've just graduated, too," the worried vice-principal of Seigaku High asked.

"Yes, vice-principal Kashimoto-san, I'm pretty sure that I'm ready." The young woman smiled in an attempt to assure the principal. He, however, did not cease to worry.

"But Ry—"

"Please call me Sakura-sensei, sir, I insist," the girl, Sakura, said.

"Ah, yes, yes. I almost forgot… Very well," he breathed deeply. "Sakura-sensei, I know that you are very competent, your resume and recommendation letters speak for themselves, but are you really sure you can handle it? I'm worried that the students might be too much for you. You know teenagers are these days." The vice-principal winced at recalling all the crazy antics his students had done for the past years. Oh, the pranks they had pulled… it was a miracle he wasn't bald yet.

Sakura softly chuckled. "Ah, yes, teenagers, I was once one… But I'm sure they wouldn't be that bad. I need to give them the benefit of the doubt first. More importantly, I haven't had the chance to personally thank you yet, vice-principal Kashimoto-sensei. So, thank you very much for allowing me to teach at your wonderful institution, and I want to thank you even more for acknowledging my requests of keeping some of my identity a secret to the student populace. You don't know how much it means to me." She did a low bow of gratitude.

"You're welcome, Sakura-sensei. Our faculty is pleased to have you among us. May you find your stay here a pleasant one." His demeanor turned to a more fatherly character. "Don't worry about your secret. We understand your reasons, and we could only wish you luck with your sister," the vice principal said. "Now, shouldn't you hurry up to your classroom? You want to arrive early for your first class."

"Oh! That's right! Thank you once again, Kishimoto-sensei. I'll be leaving now." She scurried out the door after giving another bow to the vice principal. She was hoping to leave earlier so that she could search for her class because, as humiliating as it could be, she was so bad at directions. But now she had to hurry or else she would be late. Maybe she should just ask every other student to know where her class is.

She tightened her grip on the folder that she was holding on to. The moment she's been waiting for has finally come. But she decided to take things slowly. Now was not yet the right moment to reveal her identity to Sakuno. She decided to know more about Sakuno first and to do it from a safe distance before she gave her the news.

And the best way that she could think of for her to be able to do that is to become Sakuno's teacher in class.

Now… where was her room again?

oOo

"_HI, RYOMA-SAMA!"_

The screech was heard throughout the whole school. Birds flew. Wolfs howled. Windows broke. Ryoma wished he could have hidden under a rock, or at least silence the only girl who could make such a racket—either would be fine. But not all wishes came true, seeing as the walking loud-speaker dashed closer to her 'Ryoma-sama', pushing aside all who blocked her way.

"RYOMA-SAMA! How are you?! I missed you so much! Did you miss me? What did you do in your vacation? Did you think about me? I thought about you the _whole_ time! Did you visit new places?! I went to the beach this summer, it was so fun! But, of course, it wasn't the same without you Ryoma-sama! I wish we were together! Did you have fun? Of course, you didn't! I wasn't with you! I'm sorry Ryoma-sama, I wasn't able to accompany you during the vacation! I really, really, really, wish we could have been together…"

On and on, Tomoka went. Ryoma could only wonder when she breathed.

"T-tomo-chan, could you please stop now, or at least lower your voice a bit?" Sakuno pleaded. Her bestfriend was already catching a few stares and glares from those around her. Some were checking if they still had their hearing.

"But Sakuno! Ryoma-sama must know how much I've missed him! I must tell him about how I fared while we were not together! I'm sure he was worried about me! Ryoma-sama, I'm sorry I worried you!" Tomoka continued.

"Tomo-chan, I think the whole world knows that already," Sakuno sighed. It was so hard to calm her friend down.

For the whole moment Ryoma was just glaring at the girl. That girl, what's-her-name, was so annoying.

"Echizen, with my now-five-years of tennis experience, I know that you spent most of your vacation playing tennis!" Horio added to the noise because he didn't like feeling left out.

It was too bad for Ryoma, and everyone else, that Horio and Tomoka were placed in the same class. The faculty must have something against them.

"So what if I did?" Ryoma replied monotonously while glaring at Horio.

"Eh?! I was right?" Horio was a bit stunned at being told that by Ryoma, but he quickly regained his composure. "Ahaha, of course, I was right! With my five years of tennis experience, how could I possibly be wrong?"

The class sweat-dropped. What did they do to have been placed in the same class as two loud-mouthed, obsessive, bragging freaks, and a tennis-obsessed freak?!

"Wow, that's so cool Ryoma-sama! I'm sure that you are _way_ better now and can definitely defeat all your opponents! Especially with ME cheering you on for every game!"

For the past few minutes, after everyone had gotten over the fact that there was no stopping Tomoka and Horio (hopefully, they would still have their hearing by the end of the school year), the lively classroom chatter began. They talked about their vacations, how excited they were that they were now freshmen in high school, and other normal topics.

The buzzing of the students soon hushed when the door opened, and in came a short, slim woman with back-length, wavy, auburn hair, brown eyes and white skin that was probably in her twenties.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I got a bit lost on my way," she said as she entered the class slowly, clutching onto a folder.

They figured she was the teacher.

She was looking a bit flushed, making her look even younger. She also looked so shy and demure and so gentle th–

"O-oh!"

She tripped.

Papers flew all around the classroom. The teacher blushed as she hurriedly tried to stand and collect all her scattered documents.

The children could only sweat-drop at the scene. Was she really a reliable adult?

A few students were kind enough to help her. Others were either too stunned or were too busy entertaining the bugging question inside their heads.

"Hey, you know she looks a bit like someone I know, but I can't put a finger on it," one girl said.

"Really? …Hey, you're right. Now that I think of it, she does look like someone… but who?" another asked.

"Auburn hair, pale face…"

"Brown eyes…"

"Small height

"Blushes a lot and has no sense of direction."

"Clumsy, too."

It was then than light bulbs flashed.

Like clockwork, all heads turned to one single person inside the room.

oOo

Sakuno was worried and sympathetic for the teacher. She knew how embarrassing tripping in front of a lot people was. She knew that it hurt, too. But she couldn't help but think that the teacher looked quite familiar.

She then noticed that everyone in the class, with the exception of those who were helping the teacher pick up some of the files, were simultaneously turning their heads towards her direction. She blushed at the attention. Why were they looking at her? Did she have something on her face?

oOo

Ryoma was one of the 'kind' students who helped the teacher pick up the files that were scattered.

Well, actually, it just so happened that a few pieces flew in front of his face and some landed on his feet. Tezuka would be disappointed with him if he ignored it.

Tch, who knew another clumsy idiot could exist in the world. He thought Ryuzaki was a rare phenomenon.

…Speaking of which…

He looked at the teacher again.

She looked a lot like Ryuzaki, too. Had the old lady ever mentioned about having another granddaughter?

He looked at the files in his hands. There were 6 pictures and some written information. One picture was of two little girls, one was a baby and the other look like she was six years old. Sisters maybe, judging from their resemblance. Another was a whole family picture; the two little girl and their parents. The last four were pictures of Ryuzaki Sakuno.

Ryoma found this bizarre. Sure the teacher could have had the picture for reference of her students, but the pictures didn't look like those that the school would give for identification. In fact, the last pictures looked like stolen shots of Sakuno.

There was a photo of Sakuno with her grandmother while they were out shopping for groceries.

Another photo was of a younger looking Sakuno with a still old-looking Sumire (Ryoma snickered at how _old_ the old-hag looked even before).

The last two were solos of Ryuzaki Sakuno in her school uniform going inside her house, and another younger version of her playing in the park.

He then studied the papers, which held even weirder information. The bottom had a 'CONFIRMED: RYUZAKI SAKUNO' typed on it, and scanning the contents, he realized that it had various information about Sakuno–her age, address, and notes about the girl.

The hell… Was the teacher some kind of stalker?

He skimmed through all the other files in his hands. Almost everything was about her.

There were only a couple that were about the school. Ryoma scanned the room to see that the other school-related papers were picked up by his classmates.

Real suspicious.

"Can I please have those back?" A voice spoke from behind him sounding very urgent. "Those are classified information. Very important files… Have you read any of it?"

Ryoma figured it would be safer to say no.

She quickly took it away from him as soon as he held it up to her.

Horrible, today was just horrible! And just when she thought things could not get worse, she found all her students shifting their gazes between her and Sakuno.

They were going to find out!

"Class, may I please have your attention?" she said, panicking internally.

None averted their gazes.

She tried raising her voice. "Class! Please pay attention!"

Heads snapped at her direction. Everyone was quiet.

Relieved, she sat in her own desk and began scanning her files. Finally, they were all safely back in her folder.

"Sorry for the trouble, class. And thank you to the ones who've helped me pick up the pieces of paper that flew." The teacher gave a small, embarrassed laugh. "I can be a bit clumsy sometimes. But hopefully, you'll put it behind yourselves so we can all start over, all right?"

The students nodded and laughed when she left the room only to enter again, this time without tripping.

"Good morning to all of you. As you have probably figured out, I am your teacher. You can call me Sakura-sensei."

"Good Morning Sakura-sensei!" All of the students chorused.

Sakura nodded and smiled. Being able to start over felt good. "I will be your homeroom adviser for the whole school year. I will also be teaching you English and Mathematics. That means we'll be seeing each other frequently. Isn't that nice? By the end of the year, I'm sure all of you would be tired of my face."

A light laugh echoed inside the room.

"Which also means that it's only fair that we be acquainted formally."

The students groaned. They knew what was coming next…

She looked excited. "I'll need all of you to introduce yourself in front of the class."

They knew it.

"And since our first subject today is English…"

The students stared at the teacher with wide eyes. No! Not that! Please, please don't say they had to—

Sakura cleared her throat and spoke in English, "You have to introduce yourself in English."

The children slumped in their seats.

"Now, now, don't look like that. You have to be used to speaking in English," Sakura said to encourage them (not that it really helped). "All you have to say, aside from your name, are your age, family, hobbies or interest, favorite subjects, and maybe a cute nickname that you had."

They groaned.

"I'll start." Sakura once again, spoke in English. "Good morning, everyone. Like I said, you may call me Sakura. I am twenty one years old and a recent graduate. This is my first teaching job. My favorite subjects are English and Math. My parents died when I was eight and that was when I was taken in by my aunt till I was seventeen. I've started living on my own when I studied in S University, though my aunt helped me pay for my tuition. My father used to call me Sakura-hime when I was younger because I loved dressing up as one."

Then she returned to speaking in the vernacular. "Now, that didn't sound so hard, right?"

The class did not respond. They were too busy trying to think up what to say.

"Okay, now who should I call?" She skimmed through the class and noticed the same boy who managed to collect the papers that contained information on Sakuno. She decided to call him next.

"You," she gestured towards a sleepy Ryoma. "You are Echizen-kun, right?"

Ryoma nodded.

"Good, please proceed to the front and introduce yourself."

Fans of Ryoma squealed with delight as he approached the front of the class.

"Echizen-kun, please start now." Sakura gave Ryoma an encouraging smile. She was expecting the students to have a bit of trouble regarding the English language, and he must be nervous about beginning. She was wrong, however, in underestimating Echizen Ryoma.

"I'm Echizen Ryoma, fifteen years old," he dully began. "I live with my parents, my cousin, and my cat. I play tennis and was a regular for three years in Seishun Gakuen Middle School's tennis team. My favorite subject would be Science. Kikumaru-sempai calls me 'Ochibi', my brother calls me 'Chibisuke', and I also have a few other nicknames related to tennis like The Prince of Tennis and Samurai Junior, though I would prefer that none of you use those nicknames."

Sakura clapped and the others followed suit. "That's great, Echizen-kun. Such fluent English!"

Ryoma shrugged.

"That's because Ryoma-sama grew up in America, sensei!" Tomoka bragged.

"Ooh," Sakura nodded. "Well, thank you Echizen. Who wants to go next?"

No one raised their hands.

Sakura sighed. She would have to randomly call them again, then. "Ryuzaki Sakuno-chan? Will you please go next?"

Well, that wasn't exactly random, but she couldn't wait to hear what the small girl would say. Her heart beat frantically. Would Sakuno remember Sakura, her sister?

The girl in question timidly stood up. "Um, m-my name is Ryuzaki Sakuno," she stuttered. "It is fine to call me Ryuzaki or Sakuno. I am fifteen years old and my favorite subject is Math. I live with grandmother. She told me my parents died when I was two. I like to cook and play tennis," she continued in a series of pauses and hesitant starts. "I… I do not know about my nicknames. I do not think I have one…"

Sakura tightly closed her fist as she felt her heart drop. Not only had Sakuno not mentioned anything about her, she also did not remember about the cute nickname she gave her when they were young. Why had Sumire not told her anything?

"Oh!" Sakuno seemed remember something. "I-I think someone used to call me…C-chibisaku…?"


	3. Plans, Spies and Disguises

Gelly: This story is making me shiver. How about you?

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Prince of Tennis…

oOo

Plans, Spies and Disguises

oOo

"Oh! I t-think someone used to call me… C-chibisaku…?"

_Chibisaku_

'_She remembers!'_ Sakura's face seemed to glow. How could she not? Her little sister managed to remember the nickname, the only thing she had managed to leave to Sakuno.

"Thank you Sakuno. And what a cute nickname you had, by the way. I wonder who gave you that." Sakura finally let the blushing girl return to her seat. The teacher was trying to suppress the grin that was threatening to come out.

Sakuno, though, wasn't sure why she said that nickname. She wasn't even sure if someone really used to call her that. She was just embarrassed at not being able to say any nicknames that she may have had. It was just the first name that came to her mind. At least the teacher seemed to be happy with her answer.

oOo

"Okay, class. Now that introductions are done, let's have a short diagnostic quiz. There will be two parts, one for English and another for Math." Sakura retrieved a bundle of papers from her bag.

The class groaned yet again. Why do new teachers always have so much for them to do?

"Don't worry, this won't be graded. I just need to have an idea of your levels, for future use. Oh, and I'll also use the scores to determine the seating arrangements that you will have from now on. Don't you think seating the students by their names is kind of boring?"

No one gave her a positive reply. A test is a test, after all. No one likes tests, especially when they have to take one at the _first_ day of class.

Sakura shook her head. "Get ready. The test will start once you've cleared your desks from other materials aside from pencils and erasers."

Seeing the cleared desks, she handed out the papers to those who were on the first row. "Okay, let's start. Good Luck!"

Once they received the papers, the students quickly started answering.

Now, some of the Ryoma fangirls were actually excited in taking the exam (once they got over the whole _taking an exam_ bit). They figured that since Ryoma is so smart, he would get the highest grade in English and a very good score in Math. That means that if they did good enough, they will have a chance to sit next to their Ryoma-sama since usually, the high-scorers were placed together right?

What they didn't know was that Ryoma thought of the same thing, and he did not want that to happen. He also figured that if he got a good score, there will be a high probability that he would have to sit in front. If that happened he wouldn't have the chance to doze off from class. Although he would still be caught no matter where he was seated, he hoped that his luck would work out so that he would be seated behind a taller person (which was the only time he thanked god he was vertically challenged). So, Ryoma resorted to 'unintentionally' commit a few mistakes here and there, careful that the mistakes wouldn't be too obvious.

He smirked at his very clever scheme.

Sakuno on the other hand was busy trying to answer the test; she wanted to perform well in class. But the questions seemed really hard. Even if she was decent in Math she wasn't quite confident with her answers, and the same went for the English part of the exam.

She sighed.

"Time's up! Let's check the papers now."

Sakuno was startled when the teacher's voice disrupted the previously quiet atmosphere. Then, she gave a sigh of relief—she at least managed to answer all the questions.

"Everyone will check their own papers, and I trust all of you to be honest," Sakura said.

Soon after the checking was done, she gathered all the papers and began ranking them.

"Okay, class, I want you to arrange the chairs with six columns and five rows, with two chairs grouped per column. Understand?" Sakura watched as the children arranged the chairs so that two students would be seated together per column. When they were done, Sakura spoke once more.

"Good, now the purpose of having two chairs together is that your seatmate will be your 'study-buddy' for the whole semester. In case you got absent, you may contact that person for any questions. You will also help each other in understanding the lessons."

Some students seemed to brighten up at the idea. Ryoma fangirls _loved_ it.

"Sensei, how will the papers be arranged? By our scores? Will the students with the highest scores sit together?" one student asked.

"Hmm? How was it arranged?" Sakura grinned. "It's a secret."

The students just gulped. What was that supposed to mean? They just crossed their fingers, wishing that whoever they wanted to be seated next to will be their real seatmate.

Actually, Sakura did arrange the papers from highest to lowest. The one with the highest score will be seated next to the one with the lowest score and that pair will be seated at the front and the next would sit beside them, and since she was feeling a bit perky today she decided to arrange them in a circular fashion so that the pair with the score that was the median, or the middle value, will sit at the middle. But she decided to just announce them in random order so that they would not be able to guess what their real scores were.

Sakura felt so clever.

"So, the first pair will sit here." She pointed towards the chairs in the first column in the first row. "Shii Misaka and Morisato Kotaro."

Everyone began picking up their bags and rearranged themselves.

"Now, the fifth pair will sit in the front row, second column." She read the names Osakada Tomoka and Horio Suichiro out loud and to her surprise, the class gasped.

Sakura looked up from the list. "What's wrong?" She asked them.

They didn't say anything, but fear never left their faces. They only managed to stiffly shake their heads from side to side. Sakura took that as a 'nothing' and put aside their interesting reaction. After all, Osakada-chan did get a very high score (thanks to her desire to sit next to her Ryoma-sama) and Horio-kun sadly (even with all his five-years of tennis experience) got the second lowest score.

The students were too stunned to actually explain to the teacher the possible horrible outcome of her choice of pairings. They weren't really sure, though, as to what will really happen if you put together the two walking mega-phones, and moreover, make them partners for the whole academic year _and_ make them seat at the front of the class... They were too petrified to even imagine it. No, it might be best to spare the teacher and just see what would happen.

Tomoka and Horio were both confused, but shrugged it off.

"Moving on to the sixth pair. You will sit in the very middle, Echizen Ryoma and…" Most of the girls in the class crossed their fingers, others prayed, all wishing that they will be Ryoma's seatmate. "…Ryuzaki Sakuno."

Poor Sakuno had to endure all the glares from Ryoma's fan club. But she couldn't help feeling so happy that she of all people got to sit next to _the_ Echizen Ryoma. And more importantly, _she_, Ryuzaki Sakuno, will be _his_study-buddy!

Oh, how lucky she was!

oOo

The new teacher wasn't so bad after all, the class decided. After the introductions and the test, the teacher let their poor little brains rest by allowing them to do whatever they wanted to do inside the class. And after promising that they would certainly not make too much noise, they began to chat among themselves.

Satisfied, Sakura figured that she could do something for herself, too.

And obviously, she was going to spy on her sister.

Casting a few glances every once in a while and tuning her listening skill towards Sakuno's direction, Sakura managed to see and hear how her little sister was faring. Sometimes she would roam around the room, lingering a bit longer than appropriate around Sakuno's group.

Unfortunately, she mostly had to contain herself with hiding behind a folder while shooting a few glimpses at Sakuno. When the younger girl would somehow sense her stares and also look towards Sakura's direction, the older girl would quickly look at the folder, pretending to read something… and this went on for about five to seven times every thirty minutes.

Sakura was happy to say that she managed to learn a lot of things she considered important and things the reports did not give her in her first day alone.

One, Sakuno played tennis.

Two, she can be pretty timid.

Three, she overheard from Sakuno's small circle of friends that she liked a certain boy.

And to find out _who_ that lucky boy was, she would need a plan. The plan, she decided, was going to involve the use of disguises.

oOo

The next day, the sound of the school bell signaled that it was time for lunch.

Some students scurried off to various directions while other stayed inside their classrooms and pulled out their lunchboxes.

Ryoma, the freshmen trio, Sakuno, and Tomoka went to the areas near the tennis courts. The two girls had prepared a huge lunch for their group and they decided to eat there so later on, they could register for their respective tennis clubs.

Sakura, after heading to the teacher's lounge, decided to put her plan into action. It was time for her Spying-on-Sakuno-by-dressing-up-as-a-student-and-try-having-lunch-with-them-thus-learning-more-about-her-especially-who-her-crush-is plan.

She shivered with excitement as she told the whole faculty of her plan. She felt proud as they praised her on the title's 'conciseness'. She told them that she needed their help. Her plan still lacked the most crucial detail: the school uniform.

After much persuasion, they gave her a set of clothes and her own I.D. with a different name. One of the teachers was also going to introduce her to Sakuno's group and ask them to be her guide.

Sakura couldn't wait for her plan to start.

oOo

Ryoma's lunch was uneventful.

That is, if you consider the constant bickering of Horio and Tomoka, Horio constantly challenging Ryoma to a match, Kachiro and Katsuo constantly trying to calm them down, Tomoka constantly cheering Ryoma about whatever he did, Sakuno's constant failed attempts in calming her best friend, Kirihara Akaya's cameo appearance that included another thrashing of the courts, the Ginka High's short interference of their lunch because they 'accidentally' hit a tennis ball towards Ryoma's direction (which Ryoma easily evaded so that it hit Horio), their short-lived squabble, and finally the appearance of an over-enthusiatic new girl that was not even their classmate and a teacher that forced them to let the new girl stay with their group uneventful.

For Ryoma, it was definitely normal and uneventful. The new girl was pretty weird though.

"So Sakuno is it? That is such a cute name! You're very cute, too! Do have any siblings?" Sakura asked.

"Um… thank you?" Sakuno was also weirded out by the girl's question. "And no, I don't have any siblings."

"Really?" The girl seemed sad at Sakuno's answer, but brightened up once more. "By the way, I'm Tsubasa Chihiro! Nice to meet you Sakuno-chan! Can I call you Sakuno-chan?"

"Oka-"

"Or maybe Sa-chan?"

"I gue-"

"No! Wait! Chibisakuno! Because you're so petite and cute!"

"Um-"

"Nah, that's a bit too long… How 'bout Chibisaku?!"

"Chibisaku?" Where had Sakuno heard that name before?

"Hey! Sakuno! Didn't you say this morning that Chibisaku used to be your nickname?" Tomoka pointed out.

"So that's why it sounded so familiar." Sakuno voiced out her thought a little too loud, and she blushed a bright shade of pink as everyone sweat dropped at her forgetfulness.

"Anyway, are you fine with that, Chibisaku?" Sakura, or rather, Tsubasa Chihiro questioned with excited looking puppy-dog eyes that Sakuno could resist.

"Of course, I'm fine with that Tsubasa-chan."

"No, no, no!" Tsubasa shook her head and waggled her finger. "Since I can call you Chibisaku, you may call me Chi-chan!"

"Okay." And as soon as Sakuno agreed, she was glomped by an uber happy 'Chi-chan'.

"Yay! We'll be such good friends Chibisaku! We'll eat together, walk home together, go to school together! And we'll also talk endlessly on the telephone, and do our assignments together, or if the exams are near, we could study together! We'll tell each other our secrets…" The list Chi-chan gave was endless.

"Excuse me Chi-chan but I believe I haven't introduced myself yet!" Horio cut in. "I am Horio Satoshi and I am proud to say that I now have five years of tennis experience and will surely be a part of the regulars in the tennis team!"

Chi-chan stared at Horio, and was reminded that they were not alone. "Excuse me, too, Horio-kun," she said, her voice clearly colder than when she was talking to Sakuno. "But I was busy talking to Chibisaku. And besides, who gave you the right to address me by my nickname when I clearly have not given you permission to use it? I am sorry, but you have been rude in interrupting our discussion. But seeing as you were only trying to be polite by introducing yourself, I will forgive you. But next time, do try to mind your manners by waiting for other people to finish their conversations first before butting in."

She said that with such a refined and intelligent air that the others we're having a hard time believing that this girl was only the same age as them. She seemed like a teacher actually.

"Very well then, I apologize to all of you as well because I seemed to have been too engrossed with my conversation with Ryuzaki-san here, and have skipped formally introducing myself to all of you," she continued with the same icy tone and manner. "Once again, I am Tsubasa Chihiro, a new student in this school. I am a special-case student here, meaning I am in a separate class from the other students, but does not mean that I am handicapped in any way.

"I am very thankful that all of you have kindly welcomed me to your group, and I wish that we will be very good friends." She gave a slight bow. "Though I would highly prefer if you," she directed her gaze to all of them except Sakuno, "would address me as Chihiro."

They we're puzzled. Why was Sakuno allowed call Tsubasa 'Chi-chan' but the rest of them were only allowed to use 'Chihiro'? They attributed it to her being a special-case student. Maybe it was why she was 'special'.

"Well, hi Chihiro!" Tomoka was the first to answer with her unwavering happy and loud voice. "Nice to meet you! I am Sakuno's best friend since middle school! I am Tomoka Osakada, you may call me Tomoka!"

"Nice to meet you, too, Tomoka," Chihiro replied with a sweet smile. Sakura was glad to have this new piece of information, she was sure to learn a lot about her sister from Sakuno's best friend. She reminded herself to be much nicer to Tomoka.

"Echizen Ryoma," was Ryoma's ever short introduction.

In return, Chihiro gave an equally short reply—a polite nod. Already having information about him from the previous introductions meant that Sakura need not inquire about him any further.

Kachiro and Katsuo also politely introduced themselves. Horio re-introduced himself but was now slightly pink around the cheeks and was talking at a milder tone, obviously embarrassed about the earlier incident.

After introductions, they engaged in some light talk, and soon the topic of tennis was reached.

"It seems that those are tennis rackets in those bags. Do all of you play tennis?" Chihiro questioned.

"Yes! And as I have said before, I, Horio, am already with five years of tennis experience and—"

"Yes." The rest of the groups cut off Horio's bragging with that single word.

"That is nice. How long have been playing tennis Chibisaku?" Once again, Chihiro managed to direct all her attention to Sakuno and zone out all the others.

She definitely had signs of being 'special'.

But aside from her split personality and seemingly high IQ, she looked pretty normal. Though seeing her next to Sakuno, they can't help but think that they resembled each other. Then again, another closer look made them realize that she was more similar to someone else.

"You know, Chihiro looks like someone I know…" Katsuo whispered to Kachiro.

"Yeah, I was thinking of the same thing, too. But I couldn't quite point it out," Kachiro replied.

"Sakura-sensei."

All of those in the group looked around to see if their teacher was there. They saw no one, so they instead averted their gazes to the one who said the name.

"But, Ryoma-kun I don't see Sakura-sensei anywhere." Sakuno was looking at Ryoma questioningly.

"No, I mean that girl," he said to Katsuo and Kachiro and he gestured at Chihiro, "reminds me of our teacher, Sakura."

"Hey, you're right Ryoma!" said Katsuo.

"Of course Ryoma-sama was right! How could he ever be wrong?! You are so great Ryoma-sama!"

"Oy! It's true, Chihiro does look like sensei! And with my five years of tennis experience I can guess that they are probably related!" Horio bragged.

All eyes turned to the person in question.

"U-um…" Chihiro was debating with herself on how she would ease her way out of this. Again, she was in panic.

How could they have recognized her anyway? Her disguise had been so clever!

She reassessed herself.

She had a uniform and a new idea, yes. However, she noticed a lot of other mistakes: She wasn't wearing a wig. She did nothing to her face. She had reverted away from her fake overly-cheerful high school girl character.

She mentally berated herself. It was her own fault. What should she do?!

"Ahaha, um… Who is this Sakura you are talking about? I have not heard of her yet." Sakura tried to laugh, pretending to be ignorant.

"Sakura-sensei never did mention her surname, are you sure that you are not related?" questioned Tomoka.

"Um, yes?" Chihiro did not seem to sure about her answer.

It was enough, however, for one other person. "Nooo! I couldn't have been wrong!" Horio went to sulk in a corner about his five-years of tennis experience giving him wrong conclusions.

But the others weren't like Horio. They were not convinced.

"I thought special-case students would have been special enough to be informed about all the faculty," Ryoma said while raising an eyebrow.

"Um, yes! You are right! I must have forgotten!" A weak laugh. "Yes, I have heard of Sakura-sensei. But just because we look alike does not mean we are related!" Chihiro was quick to defend herself.

"Isn't it a bit too much of a coincidence, though?" Katsuo said.

"NO!" Chihiro caught herself. Even she was surprised with her outburst. "I mean, it has to be simply a coincidence."

Ryoma was about to give another opinion when he was stopped by another voice.

"I think… I think we shouldn't doubt Chi-chan," Sakuno tried to say. "I'm sorry Chi-chan… We didn't mean to."

"No, no, no! You don't need to apologized Chibisaku!" Chihiro glomped the girl. "Let's just talk some more okay? I just want to know so much more about you!"

"Hey Sakura-sensei! I've finally found you! What are you doing here?" someone called out as they approached the freshmen group.

"Momoshiro-sempai? What are you doing here?" asked Tomoka.

"Hey, didn't I tell you to just call me Momo-chan!" Momoshiro greeted them with a big grin. "And I was just calling over Sakura-sensei here, our class is about to start soon!" He looked towards Sakura's direction.

Sakura gulped, was her disguise really that obvious? Now even her other students recognized her!

"Um, I'm sorry… but who are you?" Chihiro tried to act innocent yet again.

"Eh? Sakura-sensei, don't you recognize me, Momoshiro Takeshi? I'm one of your students in Math. A second year student! And why are you wearing the girl's standard uniform sensei?" Momo studied his teacher's clothes.

"You're wrong Momo-chan-sempai! With my five years of tennis experience I can tell you that this is Tsubasa Chihiro, a first year special-case student in our school, and not Sakura-sensei!" Horio seemed to have revived from his slump and was now back to bragging.

"What?! You're not Sakura-sensei?! You sure look like her though…" Momo looked embarrassed at his mistake.

"Yeah, that was what we thought, too, Momo-chan-sempai," said Katsuo. "But apparently, Tsubasa Chihiro and sensei aren't even relat–"

Katsuo did not have a chance to finish when another student approached their group.

"Saa, Sakura-sensei, here are the papers you asked me to pass." A brunette handed a stack of papers to Chihiro.

"U-um, excuse me?" Chihiro stuttered, but in her head she was thinking how stupid she was when she didn't consider the flaws of her disguise.

"Um, Fuji-sempai, that isn't Sakura-sensei," Momo explained as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's Tsubasa-chan, right?"

Chihiro was startled when Fuji opened his eyes and began studying her. After a while he closed it again and a knowing smirk appeared in his face. "Is that so? Then please forgive me Tsubasa-chan."

"It's okay." Chihiro breathed a sigh of relief. Then she hurriedly excused herself. "Well I must go know, nice to meet all of you, especially you Chibisaku!" She waved goodbye and dashed out of their sight. She was glad to finally escape their questions, but she was also sad that she only managed to get a few new information about her sister.

"Well, this whole thing was just weird," Tomoka exclaimed.

The others nodded in agreement.


	4. Closer Still

Gelly: So. Tsubasa Chihiro = random name = Sakura's fake name.

Disclaimer:I do not own Prince of Tennis.

oOo

Closer still

oOo

Needless to say, Sakura was definitely disappointed with the results of yesterday's plan. With all the interruptions they had, she wasn't able to get a hint about her sister's crush.

However, Sakura was not one to give up. She had more activities planned, after all.

Sakuno fidgeted in her seat. Even though it was already their third day of school, she was still not over the idea that _the_ Echizen Ryoma was her seatmate _and_ study-buddy.

She would have to thank the teacher for that. If not for her, she wouldn't have had this opportunity. And the _opportunities_ that she certainly provided! All those paired activities! And to think this was to last for the whole year! Really, thank you, sensei!

On Sakura's part, though, it was just common sense that she allocated time for the study-buddies to acquaint themselves. They needed to have a few more basic information like contacts numbers and addresses, as well as a sense of familiarity (and feeling of ease) with the person that they'd have to tolerate for the whole year.

…That and she could use Echizen to get more information on Sakuno.

oOo

"Um, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno hesitantly started their conversation.

Ryoma gave the girl a bored look. "…Yeah?"

"About the activity…" She still did not know how to ask Ryoma for his address and phone number.

The boy, however, seemed to know what he was doing. He tore a sheet of paper, scribbled words on it and finally handed it to her.

Sakuno studied the contents of the note. It had all the information she thought she could need. She gave out a sigh of relief. No longer does she have to ask him personally, risk saying something stupid and end up embarrassing herself.

Copying his idea (Ryoma was really very smart and efficient), she also wrote her information on a piece of paper and silently handed it to the boy.

Ryoma took the note, scanned it, and then rested his hand on his chin as he slumped.

They were both quiet again.

Once again, Sakura unintentionally came to the rescue.

"Echizen-kun, how are you and your partner doing?" Sakura eagerly asked, approaching the pair.

"We're fine," he nonchalantly answered, not moving from his bored position.

"That's good. Let's see what you two have learned about each other so far…" And how much she can learn about her sister.

She peered over their shoulders and saw two sheets of papers. To her dismay, they only held information that she already had: Sakuno's address and phone number.

She had to know more.

"Echizen-kun, why don't you ask something else about Ryuzaki-san?"

Ryoma eyed the teacher with a jaded look before turning to Sakuno. He took a few seconds to think up of a question before finally asking, "Do you have any pets?"

Sakura twitched at the seemingly irrelevant question.

Sakuno, however, shook her head. "No, I don't." Then she remembered something. "Ah, Ryoma-kun don't you have a pet?"

Ryoma nodded.

Not being able to fully understand the characteristics of the two students before her, Sakura maintained a forced smile. She simply found their exchange as a show of poor communication skills. She had to reason to herself that they may be the kinds that had difficulty in revealing information about themselves, so she must tolerate.

Tolerate, Sakura, tolerate.

"Um, what was its name again? Cherubim?"

"…Karupin."

Sakuno blushed. "I'm sorry, Ryoma-kun, I got your cat's name wrong…"

Ryoma shrugged, not really offended. In fact, he was quite impressed that she even remembered his precious little cat (though she did get his name wrong) when she had only seen him a couple of times.

Sakuno, however, fidgeted in her seat. She tried to redeem herself. Besides, she was also really very curious about Ryoma's pet. "Do you mind if I ask what breed it is?"

Sakura and Sakuno could sense Ryoma's hesitation. Finally though, he answered with a short, "Himalayan". Ryoma liked his private life to stay private but he figured Sakuno to be the type that knew how to keep secrets, so she was fine.

Practically beaming from his acknowledgement of her trustworthiness, she tried to think up of even more topics. This was her chance. Then, on the note, she found it. "This address, isn't there a temple here?"

Again, Ryoma nodded. "We live at the temple. My old man took it over from a monk." Not that his father did a good job, he thought. But moreover, it surprised him that Sakuno, given her sense of direction, even knew the location.

"So you live with just your dad?" Sakuno pressed further. She was on a roll. She'd be stupid if she let her shyness overcome her now.

"No, there's also my mom and my cousin."

"And, of course, Karupin," Sakuno added, to which Ryoma gave another nod.

After a moment of silence Ryoma raised one eyebrow at Sakuno, as if asking something.

The girl tilted her head. Did she do something wrong?

Ryoma sighed, finally giving up trying to ask his silent question. "Who do you live with?"

"O-oh!" Sakuno felt so silly. She blushed. Ryoma was asking her a question! It was such a nice feeling. "My grandma."

"Aa, our tennis coach in junior high."

It was Sakuno's turn to give a meek nod.

"That's all?" Ryoma asked again.

"Yes." Sakuno unconsciously looked at her folded hands.

Ryoma noticed this and did not question any further about Sakuno's family.

Sakura noted both of their actions, and found out that Ryoma could actually be considerate. She could not help from feeling a bit dejected at being reminded of her sister's cluelessness about her sibling. Someday, Sakura reminded herself, someday, she'll reveal her true identity and when asked again, Sakuno would be able to proudly say that she had an older sister.

"…Ryoma-kun, are you planning on trying out for a regular's spot in the tennis club?" Sakuno tried to ask with a small smile.

"Of course." There was an obvious tone of boasting in his answer. "You?"

Sakuno warmly shook her head. "No, I'm not good enough to defeat my seniors. I'm still a freshman, after all—ah! But I'm sure Ryoma-kun will be able to do it! If it's Ryoma-kun, he'll be able to… just like when we were in junior high…" she trailed off, suddenly feeling as if she had been too eager and loud.

Ryoma had to stop himself from chuckling, opting to just smirk. It would still make Sakuno embarrassed but what was new about that? "Mada mada dane."

Behind them, Sakura was frowning. She did not like Ryoma's current attitude, that arrogant brat. How could he say that to a girl as shy and sweet like her little sister! Sakuno would surely be feeling so down now, her poor little sister!

"Ryuzaki-chan…" Sakura started to say before she was stopped by a light giggle.

Sakuno was giggling after all the mean things Ryoma had said?

"Tomoka and I will surely be cheering for you once the regular's selection has begun, Ryoma-kun."

And she was even going to _cheer_ for him! And that boy! He still had the nerve to _leer_.

"If you cut your hair, you'll be able to move more easily," Ryoma said, changing the topic. He did not want to think about that Tomo-person anymore. While the cheering Sakuno was tolerable (as long as she stayed _outside_ the courts), Ryoma could not stand the other girl. "And then you'll have a chance at the regulars' spot."

Sakuno simply pouted. Why did Ryoma always point out that her hair was too long? What was so wrong about her hair?

It's been almost four years since they've known each other. Both of them knew that that was Ryoma's favorite line to Sakuno. Both of them also knew that Sakuno wouldn't dare to cut her precious hair. Their exchange was merely kept up by habit. And maybe as a little inside joke just between the two of them.

"But Ryoma-kun, I don't want to," Sakuno, still pouting, played along, giving her usual answer.

Ryoma quickly tried to dismiss the idea of him thinking about how cute Sakuno's pout was. And he should really stop staring too much, too.

Well, then again, that's why kept bringing up the hair topic, anyway.

Not that he _liked_ seeing the cute pout. No way. Shut up. It was just… _interesting. _And he didn't have anything else to say. That's all there was to it.

Sakura, meanwhile, still could not believe what was happening. Her big sister instincts were telling her that she should be angry at Ryoma for teasing Sakuno. Sakura liked Sakuno's hair, and who was he to criticize her playing skills?! Right now, Ryoma was slowly losing points in Sakura's list and if he doesn't say anything more helpful to Sakura, God help her, she was going to _change_ their seating arrangements.

oOo

It was lunch time again and that means Sakura was back at the faculty lounge, dressing up in her disguise: the school uniform and I.D. with the identity of Tsubasa Chihiro.

Even if her first attempt with the long-named plan was considered a failure, she thought that if she discarded the idea completely, things would be even more suspicious. She was already suspecting that the likes of Echizen were already getting ideas. Luckily, there were still the gullible ones like Horio, so all was not lost.

And being able to feel like a high school student in her uniform wasn't such a bad experience.

Looking for her sister's group of friends, she tried the last spot where they were at together, and sure enough, the whole group was happily eating lunch near the tennis courts.

As she approached them she was greeted by the smiling faces of the freshmen and a half-lidded glare from Ryoma.

This boy had been getting on Sakura's nerves since this morning, so she returned his glare with her own, not caring if she was acting childish.

He _started_ it.

After a few seconds of the glaring contest, Sakura/ Chihiro was the first to look away with a snide 'hmph' in order to avert her attention to Sakuno. She had to remember her priorities, and this boy certainly was not it.

"Chibisaku, how are you?" Chihiro hugged Sakuno.

"I'm okay, Chi-chan. How about you?"

"I'm fine now that we get to spend time together again." She was still hugging the now blushing Sakuno.

"Oh," Sakuno nervously laughed. "Would you like something to eat?" Sakuno offered some of the food she had in her extra bento. Normally the extras were for Ryoma, but it wouldn't hurt to share, especially for their new friend. (And if it was the only for the girl to stop giving her that deathly hug then so be it)

"This is great, I get to taste Chibisaku's cooking." She took a bite. "Mmm~ Wow, Chibisaku, these are delicious!"

"Thank you," Sakuno said before she resumed eating.

Grinning, Chihiro quickly reached for her lunch bag and offered Sakuno a tier of cake. "Here, Chibisaku. I can't really cook that well, but desserts are my specialty!" The container had six slices of two-layered vanilla cakes, with strawberry jam in the middle. The icing was plain white and each slice had a strawberry on top. "I made those especially for you but you could share them with the others if you want."

"Oh, thank you." She gave the five other slices for the others to share. She took a bite out of her own slice. It was delicious! It wasn't too sweet or sugary, and the cake was soft and moist. "These taste really good, Chi-chan!" The others who managed to taste the treat all agreed.

"I'm glad you like it. Oh, here, let me feed you." She took the fork and cake from Sakuno. She cut a piece and proceeded to feed Sakuno. "Ahhh~"

Sakuno, though reluctant at first, gave in and took a bite. All the while Sakura fed her, the older girl was grinning and giggling endlessly, cherishing this sister bonding moment, something that they didn't have for so long.

The others stared at how close those two seemed to be, even if they only knew each other for two days. But given Sakuno's kind, loving and giving attitude, it was no surprise anyone would take a liking to her. But it was odd how Chihiro was taking a big sister role, fussing over Sakuno continuously, giving her a drink, wiping her face from any icing or cake crumbs and asking if she wants more. They looked cute together though, so they didn't mind.

Ryoma, on the other hand, was still glaring at Chihiro. There were three reasons. One, she ignored his glares. Two, she was actually pretending that he didn't exist (Every once in a while, she would check upon the others, but not once did she even ask about him—but was _not_ jealous of the lack of attention—he was just annoyed at… at… something else!). And three, the weird, overenthusiastic girl (who can almost give Tomoka a run for her money when it came to speaking loudly) was taking _too much_ of Sakuno's attention. It normally wouldn't have bothered him, but he was beginning to get these odd 'feelings' that were certainly a dangerous health problem—damn it, what if he couldn't play tennis anymore because of it?!

"Here, Chibisaku. Another bite. Say 'ah'~"

How on earth was he going to get rid of this before tennis practice came?

oOo

Sakura had fallen into a routine.

In the morning, she'll wake up, prepare food to eat, herself, then fix materials to be needed for school today. Then, she'll go to school.

At school, she'll get ready for lessons, think of ways to learn more about Sakuno, then apply them for the whole day and of course, teach.

During lunch hours, she'll pretend to be Tsubasa so she can spend quality time with Sakuno (and her friends) until the bell rang and she'll have to return to being their teacher.

Then, it will be time to go home. At home, she'll have to plan for the classes tomorrow, check and grade papers, plan some more, and finally, sleep.

She liked the lunch breaks the best. That was the time when she really bonded with Sakuno (and her friends). She would always get a taste of her little sister's wonderful cooking, and in return she gave all of them her hand-made desserts. She loved seeing the look Sakuno had while relaxing, eating and chatting with everyone. Sometimes she would help them with their homework, explain topics they had difficulty understanding, or help them study for exams. It was during these moments that she really felt as though she was doing her job as Sakuno's big sister.

But that _Echizen_.

He wasn't mean most of the time, but he obviously did not like the idea of Sakura being too close to Sakuno. And he doesn't cooperate that easily, too, be it during class hours or their free time.

Well, it's not like he can do much damage anyway. Sakura only tried to tolerate him because he was one of Sakuno's friends, and she seemed to admire some of his skills. But still, he wasn't important.

However, the lack of action bugged her. She felt that her main goal, to know more about Sakuno, was still far from reachable. Her current methods were still not enough. She, as Ryuzaki Sakura, should be close to her sister as herself. It was not enough for her to be close to Sakuno because she was Sakura-sensei or Tsubasa Chihiro.

It was not enough

After all, all of this was so Sakuno will be able to accept Sakura as her sister, and if possible live happily ever after with each other as sisters, not as teacher-student or friends. Do what siblings do. Catch up on the times that they missed.

Maybe it was time for her to take another step. However, she won't be able to do it alone. She would need the help of another person, someone who had known Sakuno the longest. The person who had been with Sakuno ever since they were separated after their parents' death.

It was time for her to talk to Ryuzaki Sumire.

oOo

One evening, the phone rang.

"Moshi, moshi. Ryuzaki residence, Sumire speaking."

And came the feeling of dread.

"_Grandmother Sumire-sama_."

A voice full of contempt hidden underneath words of respect.

"Who is this?"

A draft familiar air blew from the unknown voice.

"_It's me, your granddaughter. Did you miss me_?"

Confusion. Then, recollection.

"Sakura."

Then fear and regret.

"_That's right. I'm glad that you still remember me after all of these years. Forgive me, but may I go straight to the point?"_

Mocking words pierced through the phone line.

"Go ahead."

Guilt and anticipation.

"…_I need your help_."


	5. The Reason

Gelly: To Ryosaku fans reading this, this whole chapter will only be about the talk between Sumire and Sakura, or in short the Ryuzaki Family. Chapter summary can be found at the end.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

oOo

The Reason

oOo

Kawamura Sushi, Sumire concluded, was the favorite eating place of all the people she knew.

"Grandmother, over here," Sakura, the one who decided to have their reunion at the sushi bar, called out from one of the middle tables. Her voice held no hint of emotion.

"Sakura," the older woman replied with equal nonchalance.

Further pleasantries were exchanged and orders were taken.

While waiting for their food, Sakura decided not to dawdle and asked, "Why were Sakuno and I separated?"

Sumire felt the restraint that the girl kept and sighed. "Maybe we should start from the very beginning." She continued when Sakura said nothing. "When your parents died after the accident, we couldn't decide on who would be your guardians. In the end, your mother's cousin volunteered to keep you."

Sakura already knew this. "Why did she just pick me and not the both of us?"

"She chose you because you were already old enough, and was easier to manage. She was a spinster and had no previous experience with child handling," Sumire explained. "Besides, you were also very talented and smart. She was more than happy to accept you. You were the child she always wanted. If I knew her well enough, I would have tried persuading her to take both of you, but…" she trailed off.

"That would have been asking too much," Sakura guessed. "Raising Sakuno would mean that Mama Rina would have to shoulder expenses for baby milk, bottles, not to mention two sets of everything else—clothes, school fees, food, even toys." Sakura looked crestfallen. She was beginning to understand what happened then. Her mama Rina wouldn't have been able to handle feeding two mouths plus her own. Even when she only had Sakura, she already had to take another job.

How could have Sakura been so narrow-minded?

Sumire nodded. She was glad that Sakura seemed to have a better reaction than to what she originally expected. Her positive outlook faded, though, when she saw that Sakura had still not abandoned her angry expression. It would still take a few more clarifications to soothe her troubled soul.

"I understand that now, but why? Why didn't anyone tell me anything? No one, not even Mama Rina informed me about Sakuno's guardian. Do you know how constantly worried I was? What if Sakuno tripped again? If she cried, who would know to buy her favorite ice cream? Who was going to calm her down when she couldn't sleep at night? Will anyone remember to tell her a bed time story before she went to sleep?

"For years, I had to suffer the pain of not knowing anything! What would I do if she was suddenly dead? If she was, would you even consider calling me?

"For thirteen years—_thirteen whole years —_andno one thought of calling Sakuno's only living family, ger god damned _sister._ Why hadn't anyone thought of informing me? A simple call—even a letter would have been fine! What did you think we were? Did you think that after a few days we'll forget we had a sibling and suddenly adapt to living as an only child—

"Oh wait, _Sakuno did_." Sakura gripped the table's edge. "Sakuno… when I saw her at her school, I asked about her family. Do you know what she said? Do you? She told her own living _sibling_ that she was an _only child_.

"What were you thinking, not even telling her that she still had me? That she still had someone else. Did you know? When she told me about her family, I had to see her looking so lonely, saying that her parents died and she was left to be with her grandmother. Did you know that I couldn't say anything? I couldn't comfort her, hug her and tell her that I'm here. I… couldn't be her sister.

"All because you… you didn't tell her anything…" She looked at Sumire with red eyes and whispered, "_Why_?"

"I… I'm sorry Sakura. It's my fault," Sumire said, her gaze uncharacteristically focused on her lap, her expression a mix of fear and regret.

Sakura managed a weak glare. "It's good that you understand."

"I knew you were looking for her. I learned about it a long time ago, about a couple of months after you hired a detective to search for her. I was always updated about you and your sister's conditions. But I never thought that you actually cared or wanted to know about her. I asked Rina-san but she told me that she never saw you and heard you ask for Sakuno, so I thought there was no need. I also didn't want to bother Rina-san with updates about Sakuno; she was also burdened as it is with taking care of you.

"Then, the Social Service informed me that you stormed into their office to ask about your sister. I selfishly made up an excuse for them not to let you know anything. I was… afraid that you would take her from me just as I had done the same thing to you.

"You're not the only who grew pretty fond of Sakuno." Sumire managed to give a weak laugh. "After being the one to take care of her for so many years, watching her grow up… I didn't want to lose her. I didn't want to lose another granddaughter."

Silence filled their table and only Sakura's weak sniffles could be heard. None of them looked at each other.

When their food came, Sakura dried her tears and poked at her food. "Who else?" she later asked, her face still unreadable.

"Excuse me?" The older woman raised her head to face the girl, confused.

"You said I wasn't the only one who was fond of Sakuno. Who else? Besides you, that is," she answered weakly.

Sumire knowingly smiled, amused at this sudden shift of conversation. She was proud of her granddaughter who was able to ease the tension on her own. "Of course, your other relatives adored her! Who wouldn't? She looks so adorable! Such a nice, sweet girl, that Sakuno…" she said.

Sakura now faced her widely grinning grandmother. The young woman pouted. "Grandmother," she said warningly. "You know what I mean."

"Well, there were my co-teachers, too. She was very obedient, soft-spoken, and though not as smart as you, she does try very hard at school," she said, trying to avoid what Sakura really wanted to know.

Sakura tried to scowl. Sumire's grin drew wider.

"Oh! And Tomoka-chan, too," Sumire nodded.

"The noisy girl that was her best friend? I met her at Sakuno's school. It's quite amazing that they could stand each other."

"Yes, a complete opposite from Sakuno. But they go together well. Ah, Tomoka is very fond of Sakuno, indeed. She often takes care of Sakuno when I'm not around."

Sakura tried to glare once more at the evasive Sumire. But after that feeble attempt, both parties ended up laughing, the past seemingly forgotten. Now they are on the same side, both having a silent agreement on caring for their precious Sakuno.

"So you've been to Sakuno's school?" Sumire asked.

"Yes, in fact I'm her adviser in class," Sakura answered with a smile.

"Really? Well, well. Seems that Sakuno would always have a teacher that is her relative then. Everyone is so protective of that girl," Sumire said while shaking her. "If you've already met, then why not tell her already that you are her sister, eh?"

"Well…" Sakura blushed. "I wanted to know her more before telling her. I also wanted her to feel comfortable around me first. For her to be accustomed to my presence. I want to be able to calculate first what her possible reactions would be, so I can be prepared. That's why I became her teacher."

"Wait, if you are her teacher, then it should have already been a few weeks since you've been together. You should already know the answer to your question by now."

"But that's just it, Grandma. That much time has already passed and I've tried so many things to figure it out." Sakura told Sumire of her plans (Sumire at least had the foresight to not laugh). "And I still haven't figured it out," she groaned, exasperated.

"You're probably as dense as Sakuno, then." Sumire creased her eyebrows. Then she had an idea. "Sakura, my dear, have you ever tried spying?"

"Yes, but I've already failed several times!" Sakura wailed.

"That's because you're still new in that... _field_." Sumire placed her chin on her hand. "What you need is help from the experts. And I know just the right group of people to help you."

"Really?" Sakura looked skeptical. "Who are they? And when can I meet them?"

"Don't worry. You know them, and they should be here soon," Sumire cryptically replied.

"I can't wait."

oOo

**Okay, as promised, here is the chapter summary:**

Sakura and Sakuno were separated when their parents died in an accident. They had a problem on who will act as guardians for the siblings. Their aunt (mother's side, not a blood relative of Sumire) Mama Rina (as Sakura calls her), an old maid, volunteered to take care of Sakura, but she cannot support both girls and so Sumire was the one who took care of Sakuno.

As they grew up, Sakura was angry that she was never informed about Sakuno, where she was staying at, what school she went to, and various other things. She never voiced out her longing to her aunt, creating a misconception that she was not interested. When she did ask (which was very seldom), Rina was not able to give an answer because she, too, was not given any information. Because of her seemingly disinterested attitude, Sumire did not think that informing Sakura would be necessary.

And when Sakura did start investigating for Sakuno's whereabouts, Sumire learned of the anger she was expressing, and became afraid that Sakura might try to take Sakuno away from her.

After explanations were done, the tension was soon lifted and everyone was forgiven when they began joking about the person who was 'fond' on Sakuno.

Sakura was able to tell Sumire her reasons for not telling Sakuno that they are sibling, and her reasons for applying as her teacher, and it was because she wanted to be prepared for the young girl's reaction and for both of them to grow closer. Sakura also told her grandmother of her attempts to know more about Sakuno, especially her crush.

The chapter with Sumire suggesting that Sakura should try 'spying' on her younger sister, and was about to suggest to her a group of people the old woman deemed 'experts' in the field.


	6. Persuasion

oOo

Persuasion

oOo

"Go Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka screamed as she waved her arms about.

"Um, Tomo-chan, maybe you should lower your voice a bit."

"But Sakuno, Ryoma-sama _needs_ me too cheer for him! Of course, your presence is important, too!" She winked at her best friend, making the timid girl blush. "Our cheers for Ryoma-sama help him win every single game!" she continued to say, her voice not lowering even a notch.

"But Tomo-chan, they're not competing in any official matches today. They're not even starting their practice matches yet. They're just warming up," Sakuno tried to reason.

"What are you saying Sakuno?! As president of Ryoma-sama's fan club ever since middle school, I know that it is important to cheer him on _whatever_ he does! It's what I live for!"

Sakuno sighed at her best friend's reasoning.

And so, Tomoka continued to cheer for the stretching Ryoma.

"Che." Ryoma lowered the beak of his hat. He had finished stretching and was now starting to swing his racket.

His attempts in drowning out the sounds coming from that loud-mouthed girl, Toka-whatever-her-name-is, was all to no avail. The only way people wouldn't be able to hear any of the noises that she made was if that person was deaf, and Echizen was beginning to wish he was one right now.

Then again, maybe it would be better for the whole world if the girl was mute instead. He wondered if pelting her with numerous shots of tennis balls would do any good.

He sneaked a glanced towards the direction of the noise under his strategically lowered hat.

His lips slightly tugged upwards as he saw a blushing girl's feeble attempts in quieting her noisy friend. It was quite amusing to see her all flustered and clearly embarrassed enough for the both of them.

It didn't bother Ryoma that much if they came to cheer for him during matches, but having the noisy girl 'cheer' for him even during practice was just too much. He wouldn't complain if she was more like her friend. Now that kind of quiet cheering was something that he could at least appreciate.

Silent cheering was definitely good, in his opinion.

As he was musing over the idea, his gaze caught Sakuno's, who immediately blushed from the eye-contact. It was only for a few seconds though; it passed by as easily as it came. The young boy simply tipped his hat even lower, trying to cover the faint blush that was also beginning to creep up his face. Meanwhile, the girl turned her attention back to her friend.

"Nya! Ochibi, play a match with me!" Kikumaru glomped the freshman.

"Hn." After another glance at Sakuno's direction (which did not go by unnoticed by the girl, causing her to blush again) he went to pick up a couple of tennis balls. His sempai said that he could be the first one to serve.

"Kya! Go Ryoma-sama!" Tomoko blurted out.

"Good luck, Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno followed.

Sakuno's cheering, Ryoma concluded, was definitely more tolerable.

Kikumaru pouted. "That's not fair, nya! Ochibi gets all the cheers!" He turned towards the girls, "Ne, ne, cheer for me, too!" he said waving at the two girls.

"Hm, I guess it would be okay to cheer for Kikumaru-sempai, too, right Sakuno?" Tomoka didn't even wait for a reply. "Do your best Kikumaru-sempai! You can beat him Ryoma-sama!" she went on, cheering for both parties.

Their energetic sempai gave a victory sign as he headed towards his side of the court.

"Right," Sakuno eventually agreed, even though she knew that her voice would obviously be overwhelmed by Tomoka's. "Go Kikumaru-sempai! _Go Ryoma-kun_!"

Ryoma smirked. The cheer for him was obviously better than Kikumaru's. "Mada mada dane, Kikumaru-sempai," He casually said while going towards the base line. And after throwing a smirk towards Sakuno's direction (soliciting another blush from the girl), he immediately started with his twist serve. "I'm definitely going to beat you," he said as Kikumaru tried to avoid the ball headed towards his face.

The match ended 6-2 in Ryoma's favor.

Too soon, practice was over and everyone went to change.

"Nya! I only got two games! Ochibi, you were too worked up!" Kikumaru wailed as he tiredly made his way to the group of freshmen.

"Mada mada dane," was the boy's only reply.

"Oi, oi! Could it be that Sakuno-chan's presence helped, nya?" Kikumaru elbowed the smaller boy.

"That's right! That's right! After all, Sakuno-chan was there cheering for you! Who wouldn't be energized after being cheered by cute girls?!" Momo joined in.

"Young love, young love!" Both said in unison, earning a glare from Ryoma and a blush from Sakuno.

"I-I'm sure that wasn't the reason Kikumaru-sempai, Momo-sempai. After all, Ryoma-kun did improve a lot since his junior high years. He has practiced very hard… at least that's what my grandmother told me," Sakuno defended.

"What are you saying Sakuno?! Of course Ryoma-sama was energized because of _our_ cheering!"

"Eh, but I thought Kikumaru-sempai just said 'Sakuno-chan', not 'Sakuno-chan _and_ Tomoka-chan'," Kachiro whispered to Horio and Katsuo.

"With my five years of tennis experience, I am sure that it was Ryuzaki's cheering that helped," Horio began whispering, too. "Osakada was sure to annoy Echizen, rather than uplift his spirit."

Even though it was just a low whisper, it did not escape the keen ears of Tomoka. She faced the trio with blazing eyes. They gulped and ran away as quickly as they could.

"T-Tomo-chan!" Sakuno made a move to follow her best friend.

"Sakuno, I'll just pass by your house later tonight!" Tomoka shouted while continuing to chase after the three. "You will pay for this!" she shouted to the escaping trio.

"Hey! Those three are escaping from pick-up duty! They can't do that, they can't!" Momo exclaimed, remembering the freshmen's duty.

"I guess we could excuse them for now, after all being chased and pounded by Osakada-san is probably enough of a punishment for them. I do hope they don't get to hurt," Oishi said as he approached the others. Fuji, Inui and Kaido were not far behind him.

"Oishi-fukubuchou!" Momo was startled by their sudden appearance.

"Oishi, nya!" Kikumaru simply glomped his doubles partner. "Are you sure? Shouldn't Tezuka be the one to decide?

"Oishi is the vice captain. He has the power to decide over that matter," Fuji said, smiling. "Putting that aside, how are you going to go home Ryuzaki-chan?"

"I was supposed to go shopping for groceries today with Tomoka before I went home," Sakuno replied while looking down at her feet.

"Oh, so you're shopping alone?" Fuji was still smiling, but it seemed as though his smile was implying something.

"92 percent that my assumption of Fuji's idea is correct," Inui mumbled to himself. "And 89.3 percent that he would want all of us to play along. Very well then." He closed his notebook shut.

"Fshhh, Inui-sempai were you saying something?" Kaido curiously looked at his sempai.

"Actually yes, I was thinking that it would be appropriate that one of us should escort Ryuzaki-san while she does her errands. After all, she is our former coach's granddaughter and underclassman, and it is our duty, right Fuji?" Inui said with a glint in his glasses.

Fuji nodded, "Very well put, Inui. We can't have our former coach's granddaughter walking alone and carrying groceries by herself. And since practice is already over, one of us could come with her." He sent close-eyed smiles to his other teammates, some of them forming an 'o' with their mouth in comprehension, some nodded enthusiastically (mainly Momo and Kikumaru). "Unfortunately, I can't come with you, Ryuzaki-chan. I have to help my sister around the house today."

"Kaido and I have a new training menu that we would like to try."

"Fsshhh? We do sempai?" Kaido looked at his sempai, who stared back at him with glinting glasses that sent shivers down the viper's spine. "T-that's right. We do."

"Tezuka seems to be busy at the moment, so we have no way to tell whether he can help or not. But maybe it would be the best to assume that he is busy," Fuji commented which earned another nod from the others.

"I have a date with An-chan today," Momo muttered, blushing.

Kikumaru did a wolf-whistle. "Nya! Momo's going on a date, Momo's going on a date," he sang. "Is that true, or are you just saying that because we're planning on making Ochibi come with Sakuno-chan?" he whispered to Momo.

"U-um… It's true," he shyly laughed. " I really have a date with An-chan today."

That earned him a hard pat in the back from Kikumaru. "Nya! Good luck Momo-chan! Anyway, Oishi and I have to buy new tennis stuff today, right Oishi?"

"That's right?" Oishi hesitantly replied.

Now, of course all eyes turned to a certain freshman, who stared back at them with a bored look.

"What?"

All of those present (except for Kaido, Oishi and Sakuno) grinned widely.

"Nya! Ochibi you _have_ to come with Sakuno-chan!"

"That's right yo! None of us are free to do it!"

"What if something bad happens to Ryuzaki-san, she might trip over the groceries, or someone might bump into her or worse _kidnap_ her!"

"That's right, we can't have that now can we?"

"Fssshhhh, you should be a gentleman…"

"There is a 97 percent chance that Ryuzaki-sensei will be angry if none of us accompanies her. And the possibility that something will happen to Ryuzaki-chan while shopping alone is 99 percent…"

"S-sempai, it's okay. I can do it alone. Ryoma-kun doesn't have to come."

"You heard what Inui said Sakuno-chan, and we don't want that to happen, we don't!"

"And we don't want to see an angry Ryuzaki-sensei, nya!"

"Ryoma, we could try various other forms of persuasion, but instead, you could just think of it this way: Sakuno might get lost, bump into someone and the groceries that she bought stolen, or worse some random pervert might try to hit on her."

Ryoma begun muttering about something, but his most notable action was grabbing Sakuno's wrist as well as his bags and dragging them outside the courts.

"Hmm, that went quite well," Fuji said as he resumed to his close-eyed smile.

"He didn't actually need us to go that far. He was just too proud to admit that he would be willing to join Sakuno," Inui said as he began scribbling on his notebook.

"I hope nothing bad does happen to them. What will Ryuzaki-sensei and Tezuka say if something happened to them?!" Oishi was still worried about the two.

"Speaking of Tezuka, where is he, Fujiko?" asked Kikumaru.

"He's speaking on the phone with Ryuzaki-sensei," Fuji replied.

"Wow, what a coincidence." Then Momo saw Tezuka approaching them. "Oh! Tezuka-buchou!"

"Ryuzaki-sensei will be calling you," Tezuka told Fuji. "I'll be taking my leave now. Don't let your guard down." With that, he turned and left to lock the clubhouse, leaving the other regulars confused.

Not a second sooner, Fuji's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"_Fuji, it's me Ryuzaki…"_

"Sumire, how are you?"

"_Fuji, just because you're not my student anymore doesn't mean you can call me Sumire__. Anyway getting right to the point, are the other regulars with you?"_

"Yes, except Echizen, he went grocery shopping with your granddaughter."

"_Great! Will you guys be heading over to Kawamura Sushi today?"_

"Yes."

"_Good, I'll be waiting here. I have a favor to ask from you and the others."_

"All right," Fuji closed his phone. "Well, let's head over to Kawamura Sushi. Ryuzaki-sensei said that she wants to ask us a favor and that she'll be waiting there."

"Let's go! I can't wait to eat sushi! Kikumaru-sempai, treat your kohai junior, okay?!" Momo looked at Eiji pleadingly.

"Eh?! No way! I just have enough money for myself! Besides you always ask me to treat you every time! Nya, it's bad to take advantage of your sempai, Momo-chan!" Eiji said, making a 'no way' sign with his hands.

"Fssshhh, idiot, don't you have a date to go to?" Kaido reminded him.

"Oh no! That's right! Sorry everyone, but I can't come today. Just tell me what you talked about. Thanks for reminding me, viper!" He waved goodbye as he left, leaving a fuming Kaido and a very amused team.

"We should go now, we mustn't let Ryuzaki-sensei wait for us," said Oishi as he made his way out the courts.


	7. It's him?

Thanks for all who reviewed! And Nina Natsu for the lovely idea (I'll use it next time, k? –wink–).

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis… man, it's getting boring having to write disclaimers…

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It's him?!?

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"So… who are we waiting for again?" Sakura asked for the nth time that day.

"I already told you that you know them…." Sumire said, exasperated from repeating the same answer.

"And?... _Who_ are they exactly?" insisted the girl.

"Just wait for them okay?" _Where are those kids?_ Sumire impatiently thought.

Just then they heard voices coming towards the store.

"88.6 percent that Ryuzaki-sensei will be angry at us for taking too long to get here…"

"Oh no! I hope that she hasn't waited that long. What if she got tired of waiting and left! It would—"

"Calm down Oishi, I'm sure she's still there. She seemed to have something important to ask us, so I doubt that she'd leave already."

"Nya, Fujiko's right! Anyway I can't wait to see Taka-san again, it's really a shame he's not playing tennis anymore, nya!"

"Fssshhhh…. There's Taka-sempai now…"

"Hi guys, why don't you come in?"

Sumire smiled with relief. "Finally, they're here!"

Sakura's face brightened up as she eagerly waited for the people who would come by the door. But she also can't help feeling that those voices did sound familiar… When she did see them, she knew why – they were her students!

"Nya! Ryuzaki-sensei!" Kikumaru waved.

Both ladies waved back.

The group of Seigaku tennis club regulars (and Taka) stared at them, dumbfounded.

The Ryuzaki's stared at each other. The younger Ryuzaki widened her eyes at realization. Then she giggled as she motioned the group to sit down at their table. The older Ryuzaki continued to wonder why her old students looked surprised to see their teachers together.

After a few moments of awkward silence Kaido began to speak, asking the question that filled the other regulars' (and Takashi's) minds.

"Fssshhh. Sakura-sensei what are you doing here? And why did you wave back when Kikumaru-sempai greeted Ryuzaki-sensei?" Those who were itching to ask the same question nodded.

"Ahaha… well…" before Sakura could explain, Sumire continued it for her.

"Boys, you already know Sakura, right?" the boys nodded. "She's my granddaughter. And she's the one that will be asking for your help." She casually explained.

Eiji formed an 'o' with his mouth, Oishi continuously shifted his gaze between the two Ryuzaki's, Kaido hissed with wide eyes, Inui began scribbling in his notebook, Fuji opened his eyes, Taka looked really shocked. Both ladies grinned. It was funny to look at their shocked expressions.

"Now that we have that detail over with," Sumire continued, "As I was saying, Sakura needs your help. I have informed her of your 'spying' capabilities" Sumire snickered, then she coughed to regain her composure, "ehem, and she wants you boys to aid her in a spying endeavor."

"That sound like fun," Fuji smiled, "Who are we spying on then, Sakura-sensei?"

"My sister… Ryuzaki Sakuno." She answered with a determined look on her face. The regulars once again, resumed their shocked expressions.

"Sakuno-chan (Ryuzaki-chan/san) has a sister?!" they chorused.

"Hmm, I guess it would have been given that Sakura-sensei and Ryuzaki-san would be related since both of them are granddaughters of Ryuzaki-sensei… Ii data…" Inui commented.

"But why would you need to spy on her, nya?" Kikumaru asked while raising his right hand like a student before asking a question to his teacher. "She's your sister and you already see her everyday at school…"

Sakura looked sheepish, "Well, you see… Sakuno doesn't know that I'm her sister…" Again, another surprised reaction from the regulars, for them this was beginning to sound like one of those drama shows that you see in television. "And I need you to help me spy on her so I can find out…"

"So you can find out…?" the regulars chorused

"So I can know who…." Sakura turned her gaze towards her lap

"who…?" the boys inched closer.

"is…" she blushed.

"is…?" they urged her to continue already.

"her…" she gripped the hem of her skirt.

"her…?" their faces were now practically squished together. The anticipation was killing them.

"…crush…" she whispered.

"HER CRUSH?!?" they said in unison, backing up from the girl having, yet again, another surprised expression on their faces.

"But, but doesn't everyone already know who that is, nya?" Kikumaru asked while rubbing his chin in thinking pose.

"Fsshhh, sensei's already been around school for a couple of months but she still doesn't know…" Kaido mumbled. Even he was surprised that anyone wouldn't know who the timid girl's crush is.

"That's actually quite unexpected that sensei doesn't know, after all, _they_ are classmates this year, right? And I heard that sensei is their adviser… And Ryuzaki-san is almost always found near _his_ side…" Oishi wondered out loud.

Sakura felt as though basins kept hitting her head for every comment that the boys made. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't figure it out!

Sumire, sensing her granddaughter's despair, coughed to gain the regular's attention. "Well she _is_ Sakuno's _sister _so it's already inevitable that she's as dense as that girl_…_" nods of agreement came from the group (except from Sakura who was now suffering from a massive head ache from yet another basin that hit her head…) "Ehehe… it's okay Sakura, no need to be ashamed about your denseness."

… she wasn't helping at all…

The said girl was now sulking in one of the corners of the shop.

"Um…is Sakura-sensei alright?" Taka asked.

"Yes, I'm fine…" Sakura dejectedly replied as she inched back to their table still sulking a bit. "So… you guys will help me right?"

"Of course! Who knows what will happen to Sakura-sensei if she went alone? She could get lost, or she could get hurt while hiding or get suddenly bit by a dog…. It is imperative that we come!" Oishi 'reassured' his teacher.

"Besides, it'll be really fun to spy on Sakuno-chan and Ochibi again!" Kikumaru added.

"Uh, I guess it'll be nice to join…" Taka sheepishly said, then from out of nowhere, a racket was handed to him, "BURNINGGG!!! It's another opportunity to bond with my former teammates! GREAT-O!! Come on!!"

Sakura stared at him for a while, mouth agape. When she turned to look at all the other people present at their table, they seemed to be used to Takashi's sudden personality change, and so she brushed it off as well.

"Ookkaayy…When do we start?" Sakura inquired excitedly.

"How about now? Today's the perfect chance since they're already outside together." Fuji suggested.

"They are?!? Then we must hurry! I'm so excited!" she got up from her sitting position and hurriedly proceeded outside while continuously saying 'I wonder who it is? I'm finally going to get to see him!..."

"Fsshhh, do you think she'll be surprised when she finds out sempai?" Kaido asked as they, too, started getting up.

"There is a 76.5 percent possibility that she will be. Possible reactions: 74 percent ranging from very happy to pleased, 20 percent opposite of that, and the remaining 6 percent will be that she will have no reaction due to shock, though it cannot be evident whether it is from joy or anger." Inui replied.

"Let's just see, shall we? This should be interesting…" Fuji gave off one of his eerie looking smiles as he slowly got up.

When everyone left, Sumire could not help but grin at the retreating group. "Those kids, they really are quite a bunch…" she said while shaking her head.

Then she realized something. "How could they leave an old woman like me behind? Disrespectful brats! And they didn't even pay!" She could only glare at the exit door. It would have been fine if she only had to pay for Sakura's meal, but even those boys (who just had to munch on something even while they were talking) didn't pay! Too bad she wasn't their coach anymore; she wished that she could still give them laps.

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Sakuno and Ryoma were walking side by side towards the groceries store. And they were about halfway there when Sakuno decided to break the silence.

"Um… Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno started, though her voice was almost inaudible.

Ryoma looked at the girl, "What?"

"I just wanted to thank you for coming along with me." She gave him a shy smile, which _almost_ made the tennis prodigy blush a deep red.

"Hn, it's nothing… besides sempai-tachi made me come…"

Sakuno's face fell. '_Of course... Ryoma-kun had only joined me because he was forced by sempai-tachi... It was silly of me to think otherwise.' _She looked panic-stricken '_Oh no, what if Ryoma-kun had other plans today? Then I'm being too bothersome! Maybe I should just tell him that he doesn't need to accompany me…' _she thought.

When Ryoma saw Sakuno's change of expression, it was as if something shot through his chest. It hurt him to see her sad (and afraid) like that because he was too proud to say that he actually didn't mind coming with her… And he was careless to say those words, too.

"I'm sorry Ryoma-kun. I'm being too much of a burden…" she mumbled, "If you have other plans today… I wouldn't mind if you leave already… It's okay if I just shop by myself. This must be troublesome for you, after all you've just finished tennis practice and you must be tired. I'm sorry. I was being selfish, making you waste your time with me…" she turned her head away from Ryoma, she was beginning to sniffle.

Now Ryoma couldn't possibly feel even guiltier now. How could that girl make him feel this way when so many things can't even grab his attention?

"You're not being a burden… Besides, if I really had something better to do don't you think I would've struggled more, and not comply as easily like I did?" he tried to reason with the girl, but he couldn't help using an uninterested tone. It was his nature to be like that anyway.

Sakuno thought about it. '_That's right Ryoma-kun usually does whatever pleases him. If he doesn't like where he is or if he doesn't like what he does, he usually leaves or stops… But there are times when he's really forced to do something… like when drinking Inui juice is at stake… he reluctantly follows…'_

Seeing that Sakuno still isn't convinced he tried another argument "… If you're thinking that it's because I get forced to drink Inui juice or run laps that I obey sempai's orders then you're wrong." He adjusted the strap of his tennis bag, "…I still obey them because I know that what they ask me to do is usually what's best for me…It's really easy for me to refuse people…" he smirked at his last statement.

"Besides, it is so wrong for me to look after you?" He raised his eyebrow at her, "You should have gotten used to it by now since they've made me do this since our junior years. I could've always said 'no'…but who else would have been there to take care of you if you do something wrong?" he smirked even more when he saw her face lighten up a bit more. What he's saying is actually working.

"…and I don't really mind being with you…" he added in a whisper.

Sakuno looked at the boy with new found joy. She hadn't heard the last part, but what he said was enough to uplift her spirit. Who wouldn't be overjoyed when Echizen Ryoma, a man of few words, actually took his precious time to explain to her that she wasn't a burden?! She smiled sweetly at Ryoma, but there was still a hint of uncertainty in it.

"Really? Are you sure, because if you do have something to do… I really won't mind if you left right now… it might be import–" Ryoma stopped her before she could continue any further.

"We're here." It was quite a long walk but they eventually arrived. "Stop worrying already…" he sighed.

As they neared the entrance, Echizen heard someone squeal. But it could've been anyone outside so he didn't mind… but when he looked for the source of the voice, all he saw was the rustling of leaves in a nearby bush.

'_I thought I saw something move along those bushes… Wait. How could there be bushes when the floor at the entrance of the store is all cemented?! And was that… red hair?_'

Ryoma decided to check it out. But before he actually came near the plant, Sakuno called out for him.

"Um, Ryoma-kun?... Are you coming?..." She looked at him innocently, waiting for him beside the door.

After one last look (just a look i.e. staring…not actually going near it) at the plant, Ryoma turned to follow Sakuno inside.

Once they were safely inside, someone – actually a group of someone's – came out from the bush.

"We almost got caught!" Sakura gave a sigh of relief.

"It was because sensei just had to squeal when she saw Ochibi with Sakuno-chan, nya!" Kikumaru argued as he plucked leaves off of his hair and clothes.

"Did anyone get hurt?! Scrapes?! Insect bites?! Hair tangled in the stems?... I knew it was a bad idea to hide in a plant!" Oishi continued to check each person present if they had any, well, if _anything _at all happened to them…. They all looked fine enough… but still… he should make sure, "Is everyone _sure_ that nothing's wrong?"

Fuji gave the vice captain a reassuring smile, "Don't worry Oishi, we're fine."

Sakura seemed to be deep in thought. "I never would have known it was Echizen-kun…"

Everyone sweat dropped. She really was dense!

"No wonder Chibisaku blushed so much during class activities…" she continued to muse about her newfound information.

"Fsshhh, Chibisaku?" Kaido asked.

"That could be sensei's nickname for Sakuno." Inui replied while (again) writing something in his notebook.

"Sakura-sensei, what do they do during class activities that would make Ryuzaki-san blush so much?" Taka politely asked.

Sakura seemed to smile widely at that, "Oh, a lot of things. Mostly some 'bonding' activities done by seatmates… You see, I grouped our class into pairs which we call 'study-buddies'…"

"And it just so happened that Ryuzaki-chan and Echizen are a pair?" Fuji smiled, seemingly very amused at the thought. Sakura nodded, sharing the same amusement in her eyes. "And that was before you knew that Ryuzaki-chan liked Echizen, right?" he continued.

"Yes, it was purely confidential… or maybe it was their destiny! Those exercises must have surely been helpful! No wonder Chibisaku seemed so eager to talk to Echizen-kun!... I get most of it now!" she seemed pretty proud of herself. "Hmm, I need to know more about Echizen-kun then, too. How long have they known each other?"

The other regulars (and Taka) let Inui do the answering. After all he probably has all the answers anyway.

"Since their freshman year in junior high at Seigaku. They met at a train station where Echizen reportedly 'saved' Ryuzaki-san from annoying and rude students, who were being noisy and were waving their rackets almost hitting Ryuzaki-san, by saying that the students were 'too loud'. That incident is what triggered Ryuzaki-san's affection for the boy."

"How gallant of the boy...Echizen is also a regular at your tennis team now right? So he must be really good."

"Yes, even at his young age he has managed to win various tournaments abroad and he's led the Seigaku junior high tennis team to various victories as a 'regular' and also as captain during his second and third year there."

"Ah, impressive…Is he the reason why Sakuno took a liking to tennis?"

"78 percent that it was Echizen's skills and inclination to the sport that motivated her, 15 because your grandmother was our tennis coach, and 7 out of pure interest."

"Has that boy always been that cocky and arrogant? Not to mention he is seemingly too disinterested in a lot of things." She winced a bit as she remembered the 'interesting' display of character the boy had during the time she was acting as Chihiro.

"Sadly, yes. But my data shows that he treats Ryuzaki-san 44.6 percent nicer than the rest of the people he normally deals with."

"Really now." She seemed really impressed. "But the question is… does he like my Chibisaku? I mean does she have any chance with him?"

Inui frowned a bit at this question; he placed his hand to his chin as he seemed to be thinking of something. "Up till now I have not managed to gather specific data that leads to the conclusion that there is such an emotion governing Echizen. But considering all the other variables like Echizen's age, maturity level, past experiences, interests, time spent with Ryuzaki-san, etc., the possibility that Ryuzaki-san's said affection is to be reciprocated by Echizen is 64.3 percent - with an average growth rate of 0.58 percent when there is interaction between the two parties during a minimum time requirement of at least one and a half hour." He took a short breath (he was actually talking continuously) "And considering that Echizen does not seem to show any concern over other things besides his self, tennis, his cat and Ponta, his display of interest for other things besides those mentioned is typically only 10 percent. But based on the data that I have gathered for these past five years about the said pair, the attention directed to Ryuzaki-san is astoundingly 55 percent above the mean…."

He went on like that for a few minutes. Sakura, who was trying her best to digest everything (she manages to understand most of it since she is a teacher), was listening intently. Others already passed out from data overload (Kaido, Taka, and Kaido), Oishi was tending those who passed out, and Fuji was watching them with amusement, every once in a while trying to focus his attention to Inui, but would find that the others were far more interesting.

"… ultimately, I may conclude that…" The others managed to return their attention to Inui when they heard that he was about to conclude his (very long) explanation. "…Ryuzaki-san does have a chance with Echizen. But it might take a while before anything really eventful will happen so that they would get together."

"Alright!" Sakura eagerly said. "If my Chibisaku likes that brat, and he likes her too, then I will support her! And as her big sister, I will continue to guide them both!"

"Yea!" the other chorused.

"Don't you think we should continue following them for now? We might have lost them." Fuji said, implying that they enter the premises lest they lose their targets.

"Let's go! Lead the way boys!" Sakura announced as she pointed towards the entrance.

With that they 'stealthily' entered the store.

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Echizen's been having this odd feeling that they're being followed. But then again… Thinking back, every time that his teammates would gang-up on him to do something with Ryuzaki he would eventually find out that even with all their excuses, they were secretly spying on them. So he wouldn't be surprised if he heard one of his seniors' voice right now.

During the first year that they've done this, it was really annoying for him. But he got used to it, and Ryuzaki's presence never really minded him that much, most of the time he actually enjoyed it, though he would never admit that. So after he got used to it, the time required to coax him to escort Ryuzaki have been less and less.

Very (very) seldom though, Ryoma was sure that his sempai-tachi would actually leave the two of them alone, and not spy on them. Either that or they were specially being quiet about it.

But after the third years graduated, the moments when Echizen was forced to accompany Ryuzaki didn't lessen, but the times that the seniors spied on them did falter. Mostly because they didn't have time or Momo-sempai would forget to tell the others about it, and when the two rivals did go spying together when the others couldn't come, they would always start a fight, and Echizen could easily catch them.

After awhile Echizen learned to ignore them and just enjoy the time that he and Ryuzaki had. And he thought that his sempai-tachi soon got tired of it anyway since not much would happen during their short trips. So, perhaps this is one of those times that they'll leave the two of them alone. Maybe it was just his imagination after all…

"Look, look there they are, nya! Oishi, this is so fun, it's been so long since we've last done this! Ne, ne Oishi, don't they just look so cute together?"

"Eiji, don't stand to close to the boxes, they might fall on you! Fuji, keep away from the edges, you could get scraped! Kaido, stop! Oh, you're just standing there? Good. Wait, don't move! There's a kid behind you, you might hit him!"

"Shhh, everyone be quiet. There's a 98 percent possibility that the level of noise that we are making would alert Echizen's keen hearing sense, and he might spot us."

…or maybe not…

He looked at Ryuzaki to see if she noticed anything.

"Ryoma-kun, what brand do you think is better?" She held out two bottles of milk. As usual, she never noticed the group of people following them around.

"Hn, the right one." He quickly decided.

How did he know which brand was better? Well, let's just say that he had to drink a lot of milk, and knew which ones tasted better.

"Thank you." She sweetly smiled at him, of course blush still present. After all of this time being with Echizen, she still gets bashful. At least she's beginning to stutter less.

Echizen tugged the bill of his cap, hiding his slight blush. "It's nothing."

"How cute, Echizen sure knows a lot about milk doesn't he?" Fuji commented.

"It must be because of all that milk Inui-sempai made him drink, fsshh…" Kaido added.

Ryoma was beginning to wonder why Ryuzaki couldn't even hear them. They were speaking loud enough for him to hear. When he looked at the girl once more, she was busy browsing though vegetables… still oblivious to the group spying on them.

Ryoma just sighed as he neared the girl… she was carrying too much groceries; he should at least try to help her right? He maybe rude most of the time, but that doesn't mean he can't be a gentleman every once in awhile. Besides, given Ryuzaki's 'qualities' those poor goods might end up a mess on the ground.

He grabbed a shopping basket he found lying on the ground and then took the stuff Ryuzaki was holding.

His action startled Sakuno. "Oh! Um, thank you Ryoma-kun (blush)…" Then she brought back her focus to the other groceries that she was supposed to buy.

"Wow, who knew Echizen could be a gentleman?" Ryoma heard his Taka-sempai say.

"Fssshhh…yeah…" another agreement from Kaido.

They are really beginning to piss off Echizen… He glared at the shelf where he guessed they were hiding at. From the voices that he heard he could guess that the ones who were present are Kikumaru, Oishi, Fuji, Inui, Taka, and Kaido… at least.

"That's another point for Echizen-kun!"

'_Wait. Whose voice was that? It's a girl's voice if I'm not mistaken…'_ Echizen thought. He tried to locate the origin of the voice, but he was only able to see a mass of brown-reddish hair. He could only see the top of the head so he couldn't tell whether those were just Kikumaru-sempai's hair or another person. He glared even more at them. _'Who is that?'_

Sakuno noticed that Ryoma was beginning to glare at some of the boxes in the shelves behind them. She wondered what could've gotten him angry. Then she got worried that he was getting tired from carrying the basket.

"Ryoma-kun?" she got his attention away from glaring at the shelves. "Is everything alright?"

He almost glared at her; luckily he was able to change his expression once he identified her voice. "Nothing."

"Oh, okay. If you're getting tired from carrying the basket, I wouldn't mind taking it…" she suggested.

He shook his head, declining her offer. "It's not that heavy…" he was afraid that if he stared at her for too long, he might not be able to look away and she'd notice it, so he quickly turned to glance at the 'interesting' cans.

However, Sakuno was still worried that she was becoming too troublesome for him. "If you say so… But, uh, if you're getting bored with shopping with me, its fine if you went home… you might have something important to do…"

"Nah, its better here than being with my stupid father." Ryoma said still not looking at Sakuno. "I already told you that it's fine… why do you keep on asking?"

"It's because you look so angry… and bored…" Now it was Sakuno's turn to look away.

Ryoma sighed, was there nothing to cease the worry in this girl? "Whatever it is, it's not because of you." He said as he took the fruits that she was now holding and put them in the basket. "Stop worrying." he said as he walked towards the other shelves.

Sakuno couldn't help but smile and blush as she followed Ryoma, wishing that today would never end.

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Wahh! Finally it's finished (the chapter, that is)! This is probably my longest work yet! I'm so happy! I had so much fun making this chapter and I hope you had as much fun reading it! Reviews/comments/etc. are very much welcome!

Inui's data are almost all made up. Percentages are made up. And the very long explanation that he did was also made up. I am very thankful for my Statistics classes for that.

-An advanced happy new year to everyone!


	8. Perverts, Treasures and Clues, oh my!

u.p.girl123: okay I finally took someone's advice and finally made a story line thing... yeay for me!...okay that's all… oh wait. Was it just me or was fanfiction weirding out during the new year? Like it kept going on error! I can't read all the other glorious fanfiction in PoT! Arggghh!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Prince of Tennis

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Perverts, Hunters and Clues… Oh My!

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"Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno hesitantly called the boy's name.

"What?" Ryoma answered, not looking at her, he shifted his weight so that the plastic bags that he was holding (there were about five of them) would be more bearable to carry. _'Ryuzaki only lives with her grandmother right? How could two people need so many stuff? And the things that she bought… I couldn't even pronounce most of them…' _he thought as he shifted his hold on the bags.

Sakuno looked towards the plastic bags that he was carrying, there were a lot because there were no more groceries left at their home, and besides, her grandmother (even for her old age) ate a lot of food, and not to mention the bentos that she had to prepare for school, she always had to make extra for her friends to eat, too… She turned her gaze towards her own hands – she wasn't carrying anything.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you carry those plastics bags?... You seem to be having a hard time carrying them…" Sakuno asked.

(short flashback) After finally finishing grocery shopping, Echizen took the initiative to carry all the stuff that Ryuzaki bought, at first Ryuzaki protested and tried carrying at least two bags, but on the way she almost tripped. After that incident Echizen wordlessly took hold of all the baggage.

Considering that event, "No." was Echizen's quick reply.

XxXxXxXxX

In the background, hiding behind a few poles and bushes…

"Aww, Echizen-kun's so sweet!" Sakura gushed out.

"Fsshhh, it sounded a bit annoyed or angry if you asked me." Kaidoh mumbled.

"Yeah, but you get used to it, and I think that it's because Echizen doesn't want Ryuzaki-chan to have to carry those bags again, after she tripped the last time… It's really nice of him to do that, don't you think?" Fuji commented.

"They should have been more careful! Echizen's carrying too much stuff, he might hurt his arm, or bruise his hand, or loose the feeling in his fingers… Shouldn't we help him?" Oishi asked.

"Nah…" They all answered.

"And besides, Echizen should be able to handle that much weight. I believe that the training menu that I've given him has helped increase his muscle strength." Inui explained.

"Um, guys, it's beginning to get late. Is it okay if I return to the shop? My dad might get worried since it's been quite a while since we've left." Taka sheepishly asked.

"Oh, that's right! Thank you for mentioning it, Kawamura-kun. Let's call it a day, shall we? Everyone thank you for joining me! All of you have been very helpful." Sakura then gave them a bow of appreciation.

"Nya," Kikumaru yawned, "I am a bit tired… Yosh! Time to go home! You're welcome Sakura-sensei! We don't really mind at all! It's really fun to spy on Ochibi!"

"If you still need help in any way, we'll be glad to be of assistance." Oishi added.

"Thank you so much! Now, goodbye everyone. Take care!" Sakura said.

Then they all left to go to their respective homes.

XxXxXxXxX

"But Ryoma-kun… those are my groceries… it'll be unfair for you if you have to carry them all by yourself…" Sakuno persisted.

"Fine. Here." Finally surrendering, Ryoma gave the girl the smallest and lightest bag that they had. "That's all."

Sakuno pouted, "Alright…" she reluctantly said.

Echizen smirked. Sakuno smiled as well.

They were walking in contented silence when a group of three unimportant, ugly, gross-looking, drunk, smelly losers (in Ryoma's point of view) surrounded them.

"Eh, what do we have here?(hic) A cute little couple…" One of the ugly looking guys said.

"She's not my girlfriend." Ryoma cockily said.

"Uh, yeah…he's not my boyfriend…" Sakuno agreed.

They were eyeing her suspiciously. Their looks were scaring her so she hid behind Ryoma.

"Oi, you heard that?(hic)" guy #2 asked his two companions.

"(hic) yeah, he sez them not boyfriend and girlfriends…" guy #3 gave a wide grin. "Ya know what that means…"

The three ugly mugs neared Sakuno, who was trembling behind Ryoma.

"…Yup, means that little missy here…" guy #2's hand was dangerously close to Sakuno's behind. "… is free…" with that he _touched _Sakuno.

"R-ryoma-kun!" Sakuno squeaked. Tears were forming around her eyes.

Ryoma dropped the bags that he was holding…he was enraged. "Go away." He said in a threatening voice, facing the guy who hit on Sakuno.

"Hahaha, look it, the brat's pissed." Guy # 1 laughed from behind Ryoma.

He was about to reach out to Sakuno when Ryoma quickly grabbed the guy's hand.

"H-hey! Leggo brat!...Aaahh!" guy #1 screamed when Ryoma tightened his hold on the idiot's hand. Ryoma pushed the guy away, who hit his head in a nearby wall.

The two others mugs were surprised at the hidden strength the lad had. He was shorter in height and build than them, but he was able to easily throw their companion.

"Oi! Who dya think you are?..." guy #2 took a fighting stance.

"You!" Ryoma glared at the guy, a scary aura surrounding him."You're the one who touched her, right?"

The guy backed a step. Each word that Ryoma spoke oozed with poison. The young boy's serious and angry look should've been enough of a warning, but being an idiot that he is, he tried to punch the young tennis prodigy instead.

Ryoma easily dodged the punch and gave the guy one of his own in the stomach. It was enough to send the bastard flying a few feet.

"S-shun!" guy # 3 called out to his friend.

"You have something to say?" Ryoma threw a pointed glare at guy #3.

Guy #3 was too scared to reply. He picked up his unconscious friends and scurried as far away as he can.

He turned to look at Sakuno, who was sobbing quietly.

"Are you okay?" he worriedly asked. It didn't matter to him that he was showing his emotions.

Sakuno nodded while trying to brush off her tears. After what happened, she was too scared to say anything.

"I'm sorry…" Ryoma suddenly said, while turning his head away from Sakuno.

She stared at him. "H-huh?" she asked.

"I should've stopped those idiots from coming near you in the first place…" Ryoma explained, still not facing Sakuno "…then… then those bastards couldn't have… You wouldn't have…they… I'm sorry…"

He looked really regretful as well as angry with himself. If he hadn't gotten careless, none of this would have happened.

She shook her head, "N-no… it wasn't your fault. I wouldn't know what to do if you weren't there to help me, I… Thank you Ryoma-kun…"

He looked at her –she was smiling at him _'How could she still smile so beautifully when something like that happened?'_ He shook his head to make the blush on his cheeks disappear. "No problem…" he said as he reached out his hand to brush away a tear that she missed.

He gave a small smile, his hand now cupping her cheek.

She gave him a look of surprise.

After a few moments, he froze when realized what he has done. He quickly withdrew his hand.

'_Why did I just do that?_' he thought. While at the same time Sakuno's thoughts were along the same line.

"I, uh…" it was one of the very few times when Ryoma couldn't think of anything to say. He stepped a bit further away from Sakuno. He stopped when his foot hit something – it was the groceries.

He quickly picked the items up, "We should start walking before it gets dark." Was his excuse as he turned to walk to the direction of Sakuno's house.

"R-right…" Sakuno said with a bright blush adorning her face. "Thank you Ryoma-kun…" she whispered as she toddled after him.

XxXxXxXxX

The next day.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning Sakura-sensei."

She eyed each of her students. Particularly a curious looking pair that seemed to be a bit uncomfortable near each other, and were blushing too much when they caught each other's gazes.

Sakura smiled sinisterly.

"Class, let's play a game today." She said.

The class burst out in cheers.

"How does treasure hunting sound?" she asked.

Again, a loud happy chorus.

"Glad you like it. You know the drill. Pairs will be working together, as usual." She saw that the pair in the middle of the class seemed to be blushing even harder, though one of them was trying really hard to hide it.

"Okay, you guys would need to follow a series of clues hidden around campus, they would be 'guarded' and you would need to complete the tasks given by these 'guardians' to be able to receive the next clue." She handed out cards to the class.

"You would need to have the 'guardians' sign these cards, to ensure that you really did decipher the clue. The first to finish the game will be the winner." She ended her explanation.

"Sensei what prize do we get?" Tomoka asked.

"If you managed to finish the game, irregardless of the place you get, you will automatically get an A for the activity" she explained

"Yeay!" the class shouted.

"But for the winners, they'll get an A+…"

"Wow!"

"…and, an all you can eat meal at Kawamura sushi for two!" she held out two meal tickets.

"Cool! Free food!"

"Now that you're all fired up, here's the first clue: To eat a lot of free food, first you must show that you have an iron stomach. The first guardian is found at the only place where you're allowed to let things explode…" she gave each pair a copy of the clue, "…Ready? Begin the treasure hunt!"

With that, the students scrambled outside the room.

"With my five-years of tennis experience, we are sure to be the winners!" Horio boasted.

"I'll definitely win!" Tomoka cheered. "Good luck to you, too, Ryoma-sama!"

The students scattered in search of the first guardian and clue.

Meanwhile, Sakura too left the room to go to the teacher's lounge. She needed to change her clothes.

"Ryoma-kun, where do you think the first clue is hidden?" Sakuno asked as they walked along the hallway.

"Easy. Chemistry lab." was Ryoma's casual answer.

"That's right! Usually, there are chemical explosions necessary in an experiment… That's great Ryoma-kun! You're really good at this!" She smiled at Ryoma.

"Hn." He tugged his hat downwards. "Let's go."

"Hai (yes)!"

XxXxXxXxX

"Fufufufufu…" Inui creepily laughed. "Congratulations, first pair: Echizen and Ryuzaki. Probability that Echizen would easily decipher the clue: 100 percent."

"I-inui-sempai?!" Sakuno was shocked to see her sempai. "You're the first guardian?"

Echizen gulped. If Inui-sempai was the first guardian… then that means the first task will be…

"That's right Echizen," Inui's glasses seemed to have shined; he was easily able to read Ryoma's expression of fear, he could also easily guess what the freshman was thinking. "The first task will be to drink a cup of my Inui juice: the Special Hunting Juice 1.0, this juice will ensure that the mind's capability of solving the clues will increase by 99 percent. Don't worry, guaranteed to be tasty, Fuji said so himself."

Inui held out a shot glass filled with green-and-pink-colored liquid. "Only one of you is required to drink the juice."

"B-but Inui-sempai, are you sure it's safe?" even if Sakuno wasn't a member of the boys tennis club, she's been around long enough to know the effects of her sempai's juice.

"Drink it…" Inui urged.

"Fine." Ryoma cautiously took the glass, and with one quick motion, drank it all.

"R-ryoma-kun?" Sakuno worriedly approached Ryoma as he put down the glass.

He began coughing, but he assured her that he was alright. When he managed to straighten himself out, he noticed that a few of his other classmates has managed to solve the first clue, too.

When some of them drank the juice, they screamed, and then they passed out.

Ryoma looked at his sempai in disbelief.

"Hmm, it seems that Echizen has managed to develop a resistance to my juice, for he has not passed out like the majority… Ii data…" Inui muttered as he wrote in his notebook, "By the way here's the second clue."

He handed out a piece of paper to Sakuno and to the partners of those who passed out as well. He also signed on their cards.

" 'Go to the greenhouse.'…" Sakuno read aloud. She faced Ryoma, "That's it… that's all the note said…"

"Che. Stupid clue. Let's go." Ryoma said.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Hi! Chibisaku!" Chihiro waved at the pair.

"Chi-chan!" Sakuno greeted.

When Sakuno was near enough, Chihiro gave the girl a hug. "It's so great that you're the first one to get here!" she exclaimed, "Oh, Echizen-kun you're here, too." She acknowledged his presence using a deadpan voice.

Ryoma glared at the girl, signaling the beginning of a short glaring match.

After a while, she seemed to remember something, "Oh, yeah, I forgot. I'm not supposed to hate you anymore." She let go of Sakuno, and grinned at the pair.

"Okay, here's your task: See those flowers and seed packets over there?" She pointed at the stems of flowers and the packets of seeds hanging by a string at one of the trees in the middle of the greenhouse. "Here's a pair of scissors. Chibisaku, you need to climb up the step ladder (ladder with four feet to support it) and get two stems of two kinds of flowers and a packet of seeds. Good luck!" Chihiro handed Sakuno a pair of scissors.

Sakuno nodded and proceeded to climb up the rickety-looking ladder.

"Be careful Chibisaku." Then Chihiro turned to look at Ryoma. "You, Echizen-kun, be a gentleman and assist her," Then she lowered her voice a bit while pointedly looking at Ryoma, "You'll never know when something bad might happen to her."

Ryoma remembered the incident yesterday with the perverts. He glared at a now-smiling Chihiro, "Che. You don't need to tell me that."

He stood behind Sakuno.

She began to carefully select the items that were low enough. Ryoma helped by pointing out where the closest items were, and holding them once she's managed to cut the strings.

"Perfect…" Sakura whispered to her self, she needed to be Chihiro during the game because it would be easier to be around the pair, it might look unfair to the other students if their teacher would be too close to the two.

She waited until Sakuno was able to finish gathering all the stuff needed and she handed the scissors to Ryoma, who carefully put it somewhere safe. Then Chihiro took a rope that was hidden in one of the bushes. She gave it a small tug. It was connected to one of the legs in the front of the ladder where Sakuno was now about to descend. One of the legs gave out.

Chihiro took another string of rope connected the other front leg of the ladder. She gave it another tug. Letting go of the rope she worriedly shouted out, "Chibisaku!"

Sakuno looked at her in surprise. But she was even more shocked when she felt her body descend.

Sakuno was about fall. She closed her eyes. "R-ryoma-kun!" was all that she managed to say.

With the help of his quick reflexes, Ryoma caught Sakuno.

He was about to ask if she was alright when somebody patted his shoulder.

"Nice job, Echizen-kun. Now put Chibisaku down, you've been holding and staring at her way too long for my tastes." Chihiro grinned at the blushing couple. "Here's the next clue." She handed them another piece of paper as they handed her the card to sign.

" 'Aren't the flowers lovely this time of year? They're just perfect for a candle lit dinner made by the hands of a pretty little lady for the man that she loves… Unfortunately that's not the case. Instead the fair maiden has to cook for a bottomless pit…' " This time, it was Ryoma who read the note. He looked at Sakuno. "We have to go to the Home Ec. room." he said.

Sakuno nodded.

"Wow that was fast Echizen-kun!" Chihiro exclaimed. "Well, you lovebirds should go along now, mada mada dane (you still have lots more to work on)…" she said with a smirk.

"Che." Ryoma hated it when other people used his catchphrase.

"Bye Chibisaku! I hope you win!" Chihiro said as she ushered the two out of the greenhouse. "Don't forget to keep the items you have in a safe place!"

"Okay. Thanks…" Sakuno said.

When they were out of earshot, Sakura said "So far, my plan is going well… They're sure to win anyway… fufufu…"

XxXxXxXxX 

"Yo, Echizen, Ryuzaki!" Momo greeted the pair as they entered the room.

"Momo-chan-sempai!" Sakuno greeted.

"So you're the bottomless pit…" Ryoma said.

"Hey! What did you say brat?!" Momo looked ready to punch Ryoma, who smirked at him.

"Um, Hi guys…" Kawamura greeted.

"Kawamura-sempai." The two bowed at their sempai.

"Hey, you should have showed me some respect, too!" Momo angrily said.

After he calmed down, Momo told them the task, "See that stuff there? Here's the recipe. You need to cook that and we'll be the judge." He said as he licked his lips hungrily.

'_I knew it…_' Ryoma thought cockily.

Sakuno took the recipe. She smiled at Ryoma, "I'll do this one, Ryoma-kun."

She grabbed the pink apron found lying on the counter, and started gathering the ingredients and materials needed to cook the recipe.

Ryoma was watching her with interest. _'She really looks cute in that apron…'_ he thought.

"Ne, Echizen, Ryuzaki would make a great wife, don't you think?" Momo asked Ryoma while wearing a cheesy grin.

Ryoma was still too busy with his thoughts when he replied with a sigh and a "Yeah…"

Momo was shocked. He expected the freshman to say something like 'che' or 'hn' or whatever one word phrase that he normally says, but a 'yeah'? "D-did you just agree with me?"

"Huh? What?!" Ryoma thought about what Momo said. He covered his blush by tugging on his cap. "Che."

Momo grinned.

After a matter of minutes (it was an easy recipe for Sakuno) the meal was done. And as quick as the food was made, it was wolfed down as fast by a hungry Momoshiro. Kawamura, on the other hand, ate in a more subtle manner.

"As expected of Ryuzaki-san's cooking. It was really well made." Kawamura commented, earning a blush from Sakuno.

"Tasty! I wish I could have seconds. Oh well, at least I got to eat Ryuzaki's delicious cooking. Ne, Ryoma, you must be really jealous of me right now!" Momo boasted.

But apparently, Ryoma was also eating the food.

"Hey! You're not supposed to have some! I'm the judge, here! That's not fair, not fair at all!" Momo shouted.

"..." – Echizen

"I'm sorry Momo-chan-sempai… I'm the one who gave Ryoma-kun the food…" Sakuno said while looking at her feet.

"Eh… Fine… If you say so Ryuzaki…" Momo crossed his arms.

"Hey, where's the third clue?" Ryoma asked as Kawamura signed their card.

"Oh, right, sorry. I forgot… here." Momo handed them the clue.

Sakuno read the note. " 'Time to shoot some hoops!'… The basketball court at the gym?" she guessed.

Ryoma nodded.

XxXxXxXxX

"Congratulations!" Fuji greeted the pair.

"Fuji-sempai… and Tezuka-sempai, too." Sakuno identified the next two guardians.

"Did Sakura-sensei make all the tennis regulars 'guardians'?" Ryoma curiously asked.

Fuji only smiled.

"For your next task…" He held out a plate. "You need to be able to eat as much wasabi sushi as I can… And that would be about ten or so rolls."

Fuji giggled as the freshmen's eyes grew with fear.

"Just kidding… What you really need to do is to be able to make Tezuka laugh." He said in a very serious tone.

"That's even more impossible!" Ryoma suddenly blurted out. Tezuka glared at the young boy.

"Fine, a smile would do." Fuji bargained.

"That's still hard…" now it was Sakuno's turn to complain.

"Fuji…" Tezuka warned, directing a glare towards the tensai (genius).

"Alright, alright. No need to get angry Tezuka," Fuji laughed, their two juniors sighed (whether out of relief or annoyance… you decide.)

"Your task for this round will be to play 'Nagashi Soumen'." Tezuka showed them a bunch of bamboo poles connected together with water flowing from it.

"The objective of the game is to be able to catch and eat the noodles before they reach the end." Fuji explained. "You are allowed to try as many times as you please."

"Do not get careless." Tezuka said as he positioned to drop the noodles. "Begin."

Sakuno and Ryoma stood on both sides of the contraption, each holding a pair of chopsticks. The two 'guardians' stood on the sidelines, watching with amusement as the younger two tried to capture the very evasive noodles.

In their first try, they failed. In their second try, Sakuno was almost able to finish the noodles, but they fell, and they had to start all over again.

Finally (they did say that third time's the charm), Ryoma managed to successfully grab and eat the noodles.

Fuji clapped along with Sakuno. Tezuka gave a nod of approval before handing out the next clue. Sakuno then handed Fuji the card to sign.

"That was fun." Sakuno said.

"Saa, you two work great together." Fuji commented.

"Aa." Tezuka agreed.

Sakuno blushed.

"Hn." Ryoma read the clue " 'Ready, set, go! Bang! And the racers are off….' " He thought for a while before realizing where the next clue was located. "We have to go to the track oval." He said to Sakuno.

XxXxXxXxX

"Oi, oi! They're here, Oishi!" Kikumaru spotted the approaching pair. Ryoma and Sakuno were still far from were they were standing, but because of his clear eyesight, he was able to easily identify them. "Nya! It's Ochibi and Sakuno-chan!"

When they finally approached the two 'guardians' Oishi immediately fussed over them.

"Are you two alright? You look tired!" he said.

"It's because they ran all the way here Oishi, nya!" Kikumaru explained.

"Oh, I see. But I heard that the first task was to drink Inui juice! Who drank it?" Sakuno pointed to Ryoma. "Echizen! Do you feel anything? Nauseated? Do you feel faint? Does your stomach hurt?"

"I'm fine sempai." Ryoma said in a bored tone.

"Hi guys! You finally reached the fifth stage! Cool! And you're the first ones! Good job Chibisaku!" Chihiro suddenly appeared.

"Nya!? Sakura-sensei?" Kikumaru looked warily at Chihiro/Sakura.

Chihiro tensed, "Ahaha! I'm not Sakura-sensei! I'm Tsubasa Chihiro… hehehe… right Chibisaku, Echizen-kun?"

The two nodded.

He didn't seem convinced, but Eiji did not press the matter further.

"What are you doing here Chi-chan?" Sakuno asked.

"Oh, I got bored waiting for the others. And besides, the greenhouse is just over there. If someone happened to arrive, I'll easily see them. And I really wanted to see you guys do this next task… It's my favorite." Chihiro said.

"First let me explain what you have to do so no one gets hurt or anything." Oishi said, "We'll be having a three-legged race. Both of you versus me and Eiji. Don't worry since you'll have a twenty-second head start."

"That's right! We _are _the golden pair, so our coordination is obviously better that everyone else's!" Kikumaru said while giving a 'v' sign.

Sakura sighed at her student's bragging, but what he said was true nonetheless. "Why don't we start?" she suggested

The pairs got ready. They strapped their legs together, and carefully stood at the starting line.

"The distance that we have to run is 200 m. After twenty seconds, Kikumaru and I will begin to run. You have to be able to defeat us in order to get the next clue. If not, you are allowed to try again." Oishi explained before they started.

"Okay everybody? Ready, set…. Go! Good luck Chibisaku!" Chihiro shouted out.

Sakuno and Ryoma started slowly, trying to get used to running together. It was more difficult than they originally thought. Ryoma was obviously more experienced in running, and most of the time they would go out of pace, with Ryoma running faster or Sakuno slowing down. It was a good thing that both of them are fit enough, being part of tennis clubs.

Sakuno's heartbeat was increasing rapidly. It was expected since they are running in a race, but mostly it was due to the unexpected proximity that she is now exposed to. Only their legs were tied together and they avoided having too much contact, but this has been one of the closest interactions that they've had.

'_I can't believe I am _this_ close to Ryoma-kun! My heart is beating too fast; I could practically hear it out loud. I hope Ryoma-kun doesn't notice it…This is really tiring…'_ Sakuno was thinking to herself.

Meanwhile, Ryoma had some musings of his own. '_Shit! Why am I feeling so nervous?! This is just like running laps during practice, no need to be this tense! I should calm down… Ryuzaki's slowing down… she must be getting tired. I should keep up with her pace if we don't want to fall down on our faces…'_

They were almost halfway when Chihiro announced that their twenty-minute head start was finished and that the golden pair could finally begin.

"They might be able to catch up." Ryoma said in between breaths. "We have to run faster if we want to beat them."

"O-okay. I'll try…" Sakuno tiredly said.

The golden pair was able to easily catch up. They were now only a few meters away from them.

When they were about thirty meters away from the finish line, the Ryoma-Sakuno pair was still first thanks to the extra time that they had. But unfortunately their distance away from the golden pair was only barely a couple of meters apart.

"T-they're catching up." Sakuno said to Ryoma.

'_I have to think of something, so they won't be able to catch up.'_ Ryoma thought. So far, they've been doing better than expected, but their movement was most of the time uncoordinated, and they kept bumping into each other. To minimize that problem, the usual solution that people did during three-legged races was to hold on to each other.

He sighed, thinking carefully whether he should suggest that solution to Sakuno.

"Ryoma-kun! They're almost behind us!" Sakuno alerted Ryoma.

"Ryuzaki, hold on to my waist and run as fast as you can." Ryoma ordered as he circled his arm around Sakuno.

"What?!" Sakuno's face was a deep red.

"Hold on to me and try to keep up." Ryoma said.

Sakuno reluctantly (but in the inside she was squealing with joy) encircled her arm around Ryoma's waist.

Ryoma tightened his grip on Sakuno (to avoid any more collisions he explained). "Let's go." With that he sped up. Sakuno tried her best to keep up to Ryoma's faster pace.

Ryoma's plan worked! It was a close fight, but they were able to defeat their seniors.

"Nya! Oishi, we lost!" Kikumaru wailed.

"It's alright Eiji. Congratulations guys, here's your next clue." Oishi handed them a piece of paper.

Kikumaru pouted as he signed their card. "Nya, you only won because you got a head start!" he insisted.

"Mada mada dane." Ryoma arrogantly said.

"You won! That's so cool Chibisaku! And look I got your pictures with the camera Fuji-san gave me!" Chihiro exclaimed as she showed them a slideshow of the pictures during the race using Fuji's digital camera. She grinned widely as Ryoma and Sakuno blushed a heated red when they saw the pictures where they held on to each other.

"Chi-chan! Could you please delete those pictures! It's embarrassing!" Sakuno pleaded while Ryoma tugged at his cap.

"Oh! Look! Someone's going in the greenhouse! I better go! G'bye you two!" Chihiro quickly said. She waved while she ran towards the greenhouse.

"No!!!" Sakuno screamed (cutely) while blushing, still.

"Oi, it's alright Sakuno-chan, you looked really cute in those pictures! You, too, Ochibi!"

"Whatever." Ryoma turned his back to Kikumaru and read the clue. " 'To win this game not only do you need to be physically fit but mentally capable as well. Test your mind where silence matters'…"

"The library?" Sakuno guessed.

"Yeah… And were going to take a test." Ryoma looked pissed as he said that. Even so he still went to the direction of the school library with Sakuno following him.

XxXxXxXxX

"Fsshhhh…"

"It's Kaidoh-sempai…" Sakuno noticed.

"Let's just get this over with." Ryoma said as they approached their sempai.

"Fsshhh… here." He each handed them a piece of paper and a booklet. "Answer them as fast as you can. You only need to get sixty percent of the questions right to pass….And you can try as many times as you want if you fail the first time…fshh."

'_Hmm… then that means I could just keep on guessing till I get sixty percent… I'm too bored and tired to think right now.'_ Ryoma thought.

"Fsshh…You can't help each other, and both of you need to pass in order to get the clue. You can start anytime you want." Kaidoh then left the two as they seated themselves in the nearest table.

After a few minutes, Ryoma got up from the table and handed his test to Kaidoh.

'_Wow. Ryoma-kun is really smart to finish the test that quick. He hardly opened his questionnaire… I have to hurry then, too.' _Sakuno thought.

"Forty percent…fsshh…" Kaidoh said to Ryoma. The younger boy grabbed another answer sheet and returned to the table.

Sakuno was surprised when she saw Ryoma return, paper in hand. But she forced herself to bring back her focus to the test.

After a while, Ryoma stood up to have his paper checked.

"Twenty percent? Fshhh… it's even lower than the last time…" Kaidoh said, dumbfounded.

"Hn." Ryoma took another piece of paper.

Later…

"Fifty-seven percent…fshhh."

Three more tries later. Ryoma still failed.

'_This is stupid… I should've just answered seriously in the first place… I knew guessing was a dumb idea.' _Ryoma thought. With a bored look he opened the questionnaire but was still able to quickly answer the test.

After a few more minutes, he and Sakuno simultaneously stood up and headed to Kaidoh.

"Ryuzaki…fshhh… eighty-nine percent…" he said. Sakuno congratulated herself mentally.

He looked warily at Ryoma before proceeding to check his paper, Ryoma uninterestedly stared back.

After checking… least to say, Kaidoh was definitely surprised. "Fshhh… ninety-eight percent…"

Echizen smirked.

"fshh… he finally passed…" Kaidoh murmured to his self.

But Ryoma was able to hear him, and curtly said to his sempai, "Che. Here sign this. Where's our clue?"

"Here." Kaidoh replied with an equally curt tone. He also signed their card.

" 'You're almost at the end. To find the treasure you need a map. Sometimes, what's found at the back is as important as what you see in the front.'… Ryoma-kun what does that mean?" Sakuno asked when she finished reading the clue.

Ryoma looked thoughtful. "It says that we need a map of some sort."

He faced Kaidoh. "Hey, sempai, aren't you going to give us a map or something?"

"Fshh, no, Sakura-sensei didn't give me any maps." Kaidoh said.

Ryoma tried to think of the next part of the clue. The back is as important as the front. He thought of something.

Sakuno saw Ryoma approach the pieces of papers that they answered. He kept flipping them over. She was curious as to what he was doing, "Um, Ryoma-kun? What are you doing?"

"Try looking at the back of the booklets" was all that he answered.

Sakuno proceeded to turn the booklets, "What are we looking for?" she asked.

"A map or something… It's probably located at the back of the stuff that we used…" He said as he was now busy looking at the seed packets.

Sakuno looked at the clue in her hands. '_What's found at the back is as important as what you see in the front…'_ She was absently staring at that line, when a breeze flew in from the window and the clue fell from her hands.

When she went to grab the paper that was now resting on the floor, she noticed that the back of the clue had some sort of drawing on it. Then she realized what the clue meant.

"Ryoma-kun!" She called out to Ryoma, "I figured it out! Look!" she showed him the back of the note that contained the clue. Ryoma's eyes widened in realization.

They took all the previous other clues that were given to them.

"It's a map of the school!" Sakuno said when a drawing appeared when they arranged the clues.

"Yeah… But where's the 'x'…" Ryoma asked.

"And we're missing another piece…" Sakuno pointed to a part where there was no paper. They only had seven pieces of paper.

"The card!" Ryoma exclaimed (Though not in an overly excited way because that would be too out of character.)

"Fsshhh.." Kaidoh hissed to silence them. After all, they were still at the library.

"Che." Ryoma checked their card, and sure enough, in the middle of the back of the card, there was an 'x'.

He smiled as he placed the card in the place where there was a missing piece in the 'map'. Yup, it was definitely a map of the school, and 'x' marks the spot.

"Let's go Ryuzaki. We're definitely going to win." He declared with a smirk.

XxXxXxXxX

"We're here…" Ryoma said.

He surveyed the area. It was one of the blank lots of the school. Recently though, the members of the school board decided to use the huge space to make a sort of garden and playground arrangement. So far, there were only garden plots with the soil turned over to prepare for the actual plants, with a few flowers planted in.

"Where are we supposed to find the treasure?" Sakuno asked. They had no idea where to actually look for the next clue or perhaps the treasure itself. There were no guardians around the area so there was no one to give them directions. The map only showed them where to go next. To say the least, they were stuck.

Sakuno looked around. She spotted the garden plot with flowers planted in it. And there was a sign posted for each plot. "Ryoma-kun, maybe those signs are clues." She pointed towards one sign.

Ryoma nodded, and they approached the plot nearest to them.

The sign read 'flowers'.

"I guess it wasn't a clue…" Sakuno said disappointedly.

She turned to face Ryoma but she found the boy walking around towards the back of the sign.

'_What's found at the back is as important as what you see in the front…'_ Sakuno suddenly remembered the last clue.

"Something's written here," Ryoma told Sakuno. " 'Congratulations! This is the final task! Go find some digging tools and plant the seeds that you got from earlier. Follow the arrangement of the previous flowers. Good luck! – Sakura' " Ryoma read tonelessly.

"Here, Ryoma-kun… I found these beside a pot." Sakuno handed him a small shovel.

"The pattern seems to be a flower then a seed then the same kind of flower then another seed…yeah, I think that's the pattern… we have four stems of flowers… so that's why they still had their roots… and a packet of seeds…it has three seeds in it." Sakuno nodded to herself then began digging.

Ryoma followed after Sakuno and dug a space next to where Sakuno was digging.

When Sakuno was about to plant the last flower, her tiny shovel hit something. "Ryoma-kun… there's a box here. Maybe it's the treasure!" She told Ryoma.

Ryoma helped her dig out the box, which was about the size of a small shoe box.

When they opened the box, they found a piece of paper inside it.

Sakuno read the note, " 'Yeay! You found the box! Now finish planting the flower. By the way, you're science teacher wanted me to tell you that you get an 'A' for planting the flowers and the seeds. Isn't that nice? After you've finished planting the flower, bring the box back to our class. Good Job! –Sakura'… That's great Ryoma-kun! We're almost finished!" Sakuno happily exclaimed.

After they finished, they dusted off their clothes. Sakuno took the box, and stood up to face Ryoma.

She gave him a closed eye smile. "Thank you for helping me, Ryoma-kun! You were great!" she praised him.

Ryoma turned to look away. "It's nothing." Was all that he said.

"Oh, Ryoma-kun… you have some dirt on your face. Here." She took her handkerchief from her pocket and proceeded to wipe off the dirt.

He looked at her. When their eyes met, they quickly set their gazes to something else.

Sakuno was the first to speak, "… I'm sorry… that was too forward of me…"

"No. It's okay. Thanks." Ryoma said still avoiding the girl's gaze. But there was a small smile in his face and apparently a blush, too.

Sakuno gave an embarrassed smile when she saw Ryoma's reaction. "We should get going now before the others come…"

"Che. We're obviously the winners anyway." Was his arrogant reply.

XxXxXxXxX

"Is everyone back?" Sakura asked the class.

After finishing checking the attendance, she spoke again. "So we all know that the winners are Echizen Ryoma and Ryuzaki Sakuno…"

"Yeay, Ryoma-sama! I knew you would win!" Tomoka cheered.

"Heh. He was just lucky because I let him win. There is no way that with my five years of tennis experience that I could've lost if not for an unfortunate experience!" Horio bragged.

"You would never be able to defeat Ryoma-sama! Not even with ten years of tennis experience!" Tomoka countered which earned shouts of agreement from Ryoma's other fans. "You never once defeated him in tennis or in any other sport for that matter!"

"Well that's because I, the great Horio-sama, am considerate enough to let him win! And I told you, I was subjected to a horrible experience that made me lose to him! So he had an advantage!"

"You passed out from drinking the Inui juice!" Tomoka angrily blurted out, "That's why we couldn't even finish the game!"

Horio slumped from embarrassment. The class laughed.

"Wait let me correct that, you passed out just by _seeing_ the juice! You didn't even drink it!" Tomoka said

More laughter.

"Don't worry Horio-kun. You weren't the only one who didn't manage to finish the game. According to Inui-kun '70 percent of the groups were not able to pass the first task.' And he told me that most of you wouldn't be able to wake up until after the time given. I guess it's sort of my fault, too, for accepting Inui-kun's suggestion of using his juice as one of the tasks… That's why for those who managed to at least get to the first clue will be getting a 'C', a good enough grade if you ask me." Sakura smiled when she heard sighs of relief.

"Those who got to the second guardian, the special-case student Tsubasa-chan, will get a 'C+', the third guardian, Momoshiro-kun and Kawamura-kun, 'B-', fourth guardian, Tezuka-kun and Fuji-kun, 'B' , fifth guardian, Oishi-kun and Kikumaru-kun, 'B+', sixth guardian, Kaidoh-kun, 'A-', and as promised, when you finished the game or when you manage to reach the last stage, you'll get an 'A'."

"Please put your names on your cards and pass them forward. Echizen-kun and Ryuzaki-chan, you may retrieve your prize, the meal tickets, later after class. You will find me at the teacher's lounge."

XxXxXxXxX

Later after class.

"Here you go." Sakura handed the tickets to the pair. "So, I assume that both of you will go together, since you have to use the tickets at the same time. It's one of the conditions of using the free meal tickets."

"I guess so." Ryoma replied nonchalantly. Sakuno blushed.

"When do you plan on going?" Sakura asked.

Ryoma turned to look at Sakuno "Is tomorrow afternoon okay? It's a Saturday, do you have any plans?" he asked.

Sakuno shook her head. "No, I don't. Tomorrow is fine by me, Ryoma-kun."

Sakura smiled at the two, "You two have a great time, then." When they were about to leave, Sakura called after Sakuno, "Chib –Ryuzaki-chan, do you mind staying for a while?" Sakuno nodded. Ryoma left since he still had tennis practice.

"Do you need something, sensei?" the girl asked.

"Oh, I was just going to ask you the same question… Do you need any help preparing for your _date_ with Echizen-kun?" she asked, giving emphasis on the word 'date'.

Sakuno face became the color red. "Oh! I…uh, i-it's not a date!..."

"It's a casual get-together of two people with a romantic atmosphere , then." She grinned

"Sensei… it's not like that…" Sakuno defended.

Sakura laughed, "Alright… So… Do you need any help preparing for 'it'?..." she asked again.

Sakuno thought about it. Her grandmother was busy with some seminar tomorrow and Tomoka said something about baby-sitting…"I-I guess I could use some help…"

"Great! I wouldn't mind! That is, if it's okay with you… it might be a bit uncomfortable for you since I am your teacher…"

"That would be too much sensei! I couldn't possibly bother you. You must be busy!"

"Not at all. It's just that…You remind me so much of my sister…" Sakura looked a bit sad as she said that.

"You have a sister, sensei?"

"U-huh… she's about the same age as you…"

"Oh…"

"Don't think about it too much. Is it fine if I help you?...I'll drop by your house tomorrow morning, okay?"

"O-okay… Thank you very much sensei."

"You're very much welcome, and it is my pleasure…"

XxXxXxXxX

Omake (wow a long chapter plus an Omake! I'm so proud of myself! -)

"Fuji-kun, these pictures are great!"

"Saa, I just managed to have right timing, sensei."

"BURNING! Echizen was brave in this picture! He drank the Inui juice in one gulp! GO ECHIZEN!"

"Haha! Good thing Echizen's still alive! Hey, look Ryuzaki looked worried for him! Young love, young love…"

"Nya! Look! Look! Here's one with Ochibi holding Sakuno-chan, bridal style!"

"Chibisaku fell from the ladder by 'accident' and Echizen-kun managed to catch her"

"She fell?! Is she alright? Did she get any bruises? Cuts?"

"Don't worry Oishi. Now, here's another one with Ryuzaki-chan in an apron, with Echizen eating."

"Kawaii (cute)! Fuji-kun can I have a copy of that?! Chibisaku is so cute!"

"I'll give all of you a copy of all the pictures, if you want."

"Thank you! Oh! Kyaa!! This one is in the gym in the noodle challenge right!"

"Fsshhh… they look like idiots…"

"I think they look funny, nya!"

"I am 98 percent certain that Fuji managed to capture shots from all the stages of the game. This one looks like it was taken in the track oval."

"woah! It looks like Echizen is hugging Ryuzaki or something like that!"

"Momoshiro-kun, they're just running in a three legged race, that's why. But I did get a lot of pictures from that part!"

"Nya? I thought that special student 'Tsubasa-chan' took those pictures?"

"Moving on! Ahaha… This one is in the library!"

"Fshh… Echizen had to take the test at least five times just to pass… but in the end he got a very high score."

"Hmm. By my calculation Echizen probably did not bother looking at the booklet at the previous tries and just guessed the answers. When he got fed up, he finally took the test seriously."

"They look so cute working together to figure out the map! Chibisaku looked so happy when she saw the drawings at the back of the clue. I'm glad they figured out that they had to plant the flowers in the blank lots."

"They were digging in the lot? Did they get dirty?! They could have gotten infected with all that dirt!"

"Awww… look here's Chibisaku wiping off the dirt on Echizen-kun's face."

"Saa, they look like a couple there… Tezuka, you haven't made any comments, yet. What do you think of the pictures?"

"…"

"Don't tell me you're still angry because I kept leaving the gym to take these pictures and you had to deal with the other students alone?"

"…"

"(sigh)"

"The pictures look fine."

"(smile) Thank you Tezuka."

"(whisper to Momo). Is Tezuka-kun really that quiet?"

"(whispers back) Yeah, usually, only Fuji, Echizen, Oishi and the teachers would get him to talk, otherwise he's like a statue…"

"Momoshiro, five laps tomorrow at practice."

"(slump) Hai…(yes)"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. Their 'date' is tomorrow afternoon at Kawamura Sushi! Care to spy with me, again?"

"(Everyone except Tezuka) Sure(nya/fshhh)!"

"How about you Tezuka-kun?"

"We should not get careless."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'

XxXxXxXxX

Woot! I finally finished this uber long chapter! I'm so happy! I hope you liked it. The clues kinda sucked though…. Eh, whatever….

I want to thank Nina Natsu for the pervert idea!

Reviews are very much appreciated! I love you all!


	9. Bonding

A/n: okay, like what I said in my profile, it might take a really long time before I start updating after this chapter (if you want an excuse…visit my profile?). So please enjoy this… I was trying out for a detailed description of stuff in this chapter, and trying to apply what I learned in English class, so please try to excuse the long-ness of the paragraphs… and lastly I want to say I'm so stupid coz I lost my only copy of the story line that I made….

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis.

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Bonding

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At the Ryuzaki residence.

"Have you decided what to wear for your date, Ryuzaki-chan?" Sakura asked.

She was sitting in the living room after being welcomed inside by Sakuno. She studied the interior of the house. It seemed pretty big for only two people to live in. It must be really lonely, too, since both Sakuno and Sumire have to leave for school, either to study or to teach.

The living room had a simple yet homey arrangement. Everything looked pretty feminine, the couches were filled with frilly throw pillows, the curtains were plain white drapes with flowered tassels holding them to the side, the center coffee table had a cream-colored runner horizontally placed in the center overflowing to its sides and a flower vase occupied by three lilacs and three different sized candles, in the bottom rack of the table there were photo albums (which Sakura mentally reminded herself to check later), the walls, that were colored a plain white, were adorned with frames of paintings and photographs though there were no pictures of the family, and there was a television in the front of the room aligned in the wall with two huge Chinese vases at each of it's side.

"S-sakura-sensei, I told you it's not a date!" Sakuno flushed, "And it's not a casual get-together of two people with a romantic atmosphere, either…"

Sakura pouted, "Then what is it Ryuzaki-chan?"

Sakuno wasn't able to reply quickly. After a short time of thinking she settled with "…were just using the prize tickets that we received, it would be a shame to let it go to waste…"

"True, true." Sakura seemingly surrendered, "…But wouldn't it look like a date to other people? After all, a boy and a girl eating sushi together without their friends or other companions while enjoying themselves definitely counts as a date. And the fact that both of you enjoy each other's company and already have a slightly more intimate interaction than normal friends would make your case seem even more of a date…. And with the both of you blushing every time you face each other and smiling so sweetly, it would be unorthodox to think otherwise." Sakura took a sip of the tea that Sakuno offered earlier.

Sakuno couldn't possibly counter that. And she had to admit that even she wishes that it really was a date.

"…and if both parties involved already do have 'feelings' for each other, which I believe is the case we have here, then it definitely constitutes as a date, even if those emotions are kept hidden… I don't mean to be invasive of your personal privacy, but it is quite obvious that both of you like each other (Sakura's saying it's obvious even though she only figured it out after couple of months and only with the help of the tennis regulars?). And I don't think people would have any qualms if you two, hypothetically speaking, did get together. I, for one, highly approve of it, if it makes you happy."

Sakuno felt elated after hearing her sensei's words. It was the first time someone said those things to her. It was nice having someone a bit older than you to talk to… her sensei was like a big sister that she could run to for advice or simply just for encouragement. "T-thank you sensei, I'm glad you said that."

Sakura smiled warmly, "It's all in a _big sister's _day of work."

'…_Big sister… should I tell her now that I'm her sibling?... no… I can't… not right now…' _Sakura thought to herself, "After all, your teacher should be like your parent, but since I'm too young to be your mother, I'll settle for the big sister role." She explained herself.

'_Big sister? Did sensei imply that she's like my sister?'_ Sakuno was thinking to herself before she heard Sakura say some excuse about teachers being like family to their students… _'oh, so that's what she meant…'_

"It must be nice to have sensei as a big sister. Your little sister is lucky to have you." Sakuno said while smiling.

Sakura's smile seemed to have decreased. Sakuno noticed that the teacher became quiet all of the sudden.

"Did I say something wrong?...I'm sorry…" Sakuno quickly apologized.

"Oh! No, no!" Sakura waved her hands in front of her while shaking her head sideways, "You didn't say anything wrong… I just miss my sister… that's all."

Sakuno decided to not mention it anymore. "Okay…. More tea, sensei?" she changed the subject.

"No, thank you, maybe we should start choosing what clothes you should wear." Sakura suggested as she got up from the couch.

"Alright." Sakuno, too, got up.

After cleaning up the dishes, they went up to Sakuno's room.

'_Now we can finally bond…' _Sakura thought.

They started raiding Sakuno's closet. They first paired up clothes that looked good together so afterwards they could just pick one.

"Sooooo… which one do you prefer Ryuzaki-chan?" Sakura asked eyeing all the clothes lying on the bed, the table, the chairs and even on the floor.

"I don't think I can decide…" Sakuno sighed, "… there's too many to choose from…"

"You're right… this is hard. All of them would look so pretty on you…"Sakura casually said.

Sakuno blushed at the compliment. "Maybe we should try cutting the number down."

"Yeah. Or maybe we could try a different style of choosing." Sakura did a thinking pose with one hand on her chin. "We should go for whatever your favorite piece of clothing is, or what article of clothing you deem as 'lucky', after all, this date with Echizen-kun must be very important for you."

Sakuno long stopped trying to convince her teacher about the 'date' thing. She went into the piles of clothing and search for her favorite lucky top. It was a light pink sleeveless top with beads sewn in the hem of the shirt.

"Cute!" Sakura exclaimed when she saw the shirt, "Now that we have one piece let's work on what other articles of clothing would go best with that. How about a layered look? Do you have a cropped, off-shoulder, long-sleeved shirt? It should be a bit loose."

Sakuno searched the pile of clothes and retrieved the said shirt. "Is this what you needed Sakura-sensei?"

"Great, the color white would blend well with your pink top. Now, would you prefer to wear pants or a skirt?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe I should wear pants, to make it look sportier." Sakuno suggested.

"Sporty? Oh, because Echizen-kun likes to play tennis. Very well, light brown Capri pants would fit, I think. Then you could wear flat shoes or walking shoes with low socks. And you can bring a small backpack along with you…"

Sakuno scattered to gather all the stuff that the teacher suggested.

"…We could arrange your hair into high pigtails and we can braid some parts of it… and for jewelry, a simple silver necklace, bracelet with charms and heart earrings would do. What do you think Ryuzaki-chan?" Sakura asked.

"It looks great! Thank you very much Sakura-sensei." The girl said with a smile. "I'm going to take a quick bath, now. You can wait in my room, sensei."

Sakura nodded, and the timid girl left.

Sakura now had time to look around, just looking as she sat on the bed, because it would be impolite to actually touch or move the stuff inside another person's room.

The room was large enough. In one corner of the room laterally facing the door, there was a wooden bed with a pink comforter, pink pillows (squares and hearts), pink bolsters, a pink stuffed rabbit and brown headboard. On the other side of the bed was a window with a pink curtain with small heart and flower-shaped designs. Next to the bed was a small table with a plain red lamp. The table also had pictures of Sakuno, her grandmother and her friends; it also had a small vase with a single rose. By just looking at this side of the room, it was already obvious what Sakuno's favorite color was.

Moving her gaze to the other side of the room facing the foot of the bed, she saw Sakuno's cabinet. It was made of wood with intricate designs and a soft varnish finish. Next to the cabinet was Sakuno's study table filled with books, notebooks, papers, a reading lamp, more picture frames, and other various school supplies.

Then she turned her attention to the wall with the door. Next to the door was Sakuno's dressing-table, filled with powder, lotions and whatnots all arranged into a neat order by height. Next to the dressing table was a bureau with a similar color and design as to the cabinet.

While Sakura was admiring the wooden paneling in the ceiling, Sakuno was back at the room wearing the clothes that Sakura chose earlier.

"Ryuzaki-chan, you look really cute!" Sakura said as she noticed the girl.

Sakuno sheepishly smiled, "Thank you Sakura-sensei, the clothes you picked look really well together."

"It looks really good because you're the one wearing them! After all how you carry your clothes is what's important." Sakura said.

Sakuno blushed.

"Now go sit so I can take care of your hair and make-up."

"Okay."

Sakuno sat at near her dressing-table facing the mirror. She handed her teacher her hair brush.

"Ryuzaki-chan, your hair is really soft and long. It must be very tedious to take care of it." Sakura commented as she brushed her sister's hair.

"Well, it does take quite a while to wash and brush, but I've gotten used to it."

Sakura was now busy parting Sakuno's hair, "Will you please hold this side?"

Sakuno held her hair while Sakura was busy tying up the other side, "Sakura-sensei, do you often do this with your sister?" Sakuno asked out of the blue.

Without looking at Sakuno, Sakura quietly answer, "When she was younger, about just a year old, we would play dress-up and I would always do her hair. But that was the only time I got to do that… we never had another chance when she grew up…"

"Oh…Why? Didn't she like it when you arrange her hair? You seem really good at it… I really like how you handle my hair; your hands are soft and careful that I don't get hurt."

"Thank you Ryuzaki-chan. Now I'm sure she likes it. But we just never had another chance to bond with each other."

"Why? Did something happen to her? Did you fight?"

"We didn't fight or anything…" Sakura gave a bittersweet smile as she finished the pigtails and was now starting to braid sections of it, "Something just… happened that made us grow apart…"

Sakuno frowned, "Shouldn't you fix your relationship? Your sister must miss you very much."

Sakura smiled at Sakuno's words, "Thank you for caring so much Ryuzaki-chan." Sakura started working on Sakuno's make-up, "I am trying to fix it, and I think it's getting better already… but I know she doesn't miss me…"

Sakuno faced the teacher, "How could she not miss you? You're her sister."

"Will you please close your eyes so I could add the eye-shadow?" Sakura asked to which the younger girl complied, "…she doesn't know I'm her sister…" she finally whispered.

Sakuno opened her eyes when she felt that Sakura was done with the eye shadow, "She doesn't?"

Sakura shook her head "But I'm trying really hard to keep up with the times that we've lost…" she continued with Sakuno's make-up. "We're almost done. Open your lips a bit wider." Sakura applied pink lip gloss, "Okay, now smile for me while I add some light blush on your cheeks…"

Finished with her work, Sakura smiled at Sakuno. "Done!"

Sakuno looked at herself in the mirror, "Wow, you did a great job Sakura-sensei…"

"No, I only enhanced your features; you were already beautiful to begin with." Sakura said.

"T-thank you…" Sakuno said while blushing adding more color to her cheeks.

"Thank you for letting me bond with you Ryuzaki-chan."

"It's okay if you call me Sakuno, Sakura-sensei… And if things don't work out between you and you're sister, I'd love to help out because Sakura-sensei is like my big-sister, right?" Sakuno said while giving a bright, encouraging smile.

Sakura couldn't help feeling emotional -- she hugged Sakuno, "Thank you Sakuno-chan…" She held Sakuno at arms length to give her one last look, "You look really great Sakuno-chan. Now, have fun with your date with Echizen-kun!"

XxXxXxXxX

At the Echizen residence…

"Oi Chibisuke wake up!" Ryoga was once more given the task to wake up the sleeping rock -- his brother, Ryoma.

"Hnnnn…" Ryoma moaned before hiding underneath the covers.

"Hey! Get up!" exasperated, Ryoga sat on the bed. "I thought you had a date today and you wanted to get up early to prepare?" he said with a smirk.

"It's not a date." Was all that Ryoma said, but he did (finally) get up while giving out a yawn. "We got free meal tickets when we won in a game."

"Whatever you say…" he said in a teasing tone, "So who you going out with?" he asked, though he already had an idea who the girl was.

"Ryuzaki."

Ryoga feigned shock, "The girl I saw walking with you? I never would have known." _' I knew it! Chibisuke really does like that girl!'_

"We were teamed together, okay? It wasn't my choice that she's my partner at the stupid treasure hunt." Ryoma explained getting up.

"Whatever you say…"

"Stop saying that!"

"Whatever you sa— Ouch! Hey! Why did you throw your pillow at me?!"

"Che. You deserve it." Ryoma kneeled to pet Karupin, "Morning Karupin… so what do you think I should wear?"

"Maybe you could wear a black, slightly fitting, sleeveless shirt with a red open camp shirt."

"I wasn't asking for your opinion, I was talking to Karupin."

"I'm being a good big brother by giving you clothing advice for your date, and this is how you talk to me? Ungrateful brat!"

"Che… Like this?" Ryoma asked holding out the clothes that Ryoga said earlier.

"Ha! You did follow my advice!" Ryoga gloated.

"Hn, what about my pants?"

"I don't know… it's just a casual date right? The atmosphere should be friendly but a bit intimate but not overly romantic. So I guess it is okay to wear those loose jeans that go past your knee. Go for a sporty look coz she obviously fell in love with you because you're so _great_ in tennis." Ryoga said in mock praise.

"It's not a date." Ryoma said before he went looking for the pair of pants that Ryoga described. "But I am great in tennis…" he said with a smirk as he found the said pair of jeans.

"Whatever. Oh, and don't wear your stupid hat."

"Why?"

"Because… just because!­­"

"Che."

"You should take a bath now… it's like already ten or something and you haven't even eaten breakfast yet. You don't want to be late for your date with cute little Sakuno-chan!"

"Yeah, yeah… It's not a date!"

"Whatever you sa— Hey!" Ryoga rubbed his head. The book thrown at him gave him quite a concussion.

Ryoma smirked as he went to take a bath. "Don't touch anything. Karupin, bite him if he does."

"Meow." Karupin said. When Ryoma left the room the cat immediately turned his attention to the other male inside the room, eyeing the person warily, ready to take on the task assigned to him by his master.

"Aww, Karupin, don't look at me like that!" Ryoga pouted at the cat.

"…" Karupin kept staring at Ryoga.

"Fine! Keep staring! I'm just gonna lie around here anyway!" Ryoga plopped his head into the bed, staring at the ceiling. "You know Karupin, it's nice that I get to bond with Ryoma…"

"…"

"After all, I left them when we were just kids… then he only saw me again at the cruise, and I realized a lot when we played together…but I didn't actually 'return' home…"

"Meow…"

"Yeah, that was mean of me, I know. But I least I let them know where I stayed in America… and I occasionally visit them every now and then…"

"Meow…"

"Argh! You don't have to rub it in that I only visit _twice_ a year! At least I do!"

"Meow…"

"Don't back sass me about staying for only a week or so, you cat! I'm already going to stay here a bit longer than I used to since I already finished college!" He glared at the cat.

"Meow…"

"I know… I do miss them a lot. That's why I've been thinking of staying here…"

"…meow"

"Okay, fine, I missed you, too. Changing the topic what do you think of Sakuno-chan? Have you already seen her?"

"…meow…"

"You're not sure if you've met her? She's the girl with two long braids, blushes a lot and is usually around Chibisuke…"

"Meow"

"So you have seen her. I think she's cute, she'll be great for Chibisuke!"

"Meow."

"Glad you agree with me."

"…you're talking… to my cat?" Ryoma asked. He was standing by the door, listening to almost the whole conversation between Karupin and Ryoga.

"Yeah, so? Karupin's a great listener and conversationalist… even better than you!" Ryoga retorted, totally not caring that he just had a _whole_ conversation with a _cat_.

"Hn." Was all Ryoma said. He got dressed. He checked himself in the full length mirror and he agrees that Ryoga had nice taste, but he'll never say that out loud.

"Here, wear this." Ryoga handed his brother a silver necklace with a tennis racket shaped charm. "And I told you to put gel on your hair!"

"I don't want to!" Ryoma backed away from Ryoga while covering his hair with his hands.

"Who cares?!" Ryoga squeezed out a liberal amount of hair gel into his palm and eyed Ryoma with an evil grin.

"Yah!" Ryoma was unable to fight back as Ryoga 'attacked' his hair, artistically tossing it around. "There, now you're hair is stylishly messy!"

"What on earth are you talking about?!" Ryoma shouted at his brother, but he made no action to remove the stuff from his hair.

"You should thank me Chibisuke! I helped you get ready for your date!"

"No I don't. It's your job as my big brother to help me."

"Awww" Ryoga glomped the boy, "that's so sweet of you Chibisuke! I know you love me… as a brother, that is!"

"Whatever. Get off me!" Ryoma brushed himself.

"I had fun helping you, Chibisuke!" Ryoga said with a smile. "I'm glad I'm your brother!"

Ryoma smiled, too. "Hn."

"Didn't you appreciate all the hard work I've put in helping you look good for your date?"

"Fine, thanks for the help… and it's not a date!"

"Whatever you say!"

XxXxXxXxX

Echizen was patiently waiting at the entrance of Kawamura Sushi. Why he didn't wait inside… I do not know…

Anywho, he was waiting. For once he was actually a bit early. It was all thanks to the constant nagging of Ryoga that being late for a date is a total no-no!

At the side of the store, a group of people were also waiting.

"Good, Echizen-kun is early and he's looking good! Another point for Echizen-kun!" – Sakura

"Wow, who knew the brat could be early for _anything_! And he's not looking too shabby either, not bad, not bad!" – Momo

"Nya! Yeah! He must be excited for his date with Sakuno-chan! – Kikumaru

"BURNING! YEAH! Way to go Echizen!" – Kawamura

Echizen managed to hear the voices of his sempai and teacher. '_Great… they're spying on us, again. And this time Sakura-sensei is with them… why would she want to spy on us anyway?...(sigh)… they could at least keep quiet…'_

"Saa, Taka shouldn't you be working inside?" – Fuji

"O-oh… yeah… thanks for reminding me Fujiko…" – Kawamura

"Where's Ryuzaki-san? It's already after noon! Something must've happened to her!" – Oishi

'_I guess they can't keep silent…' _Echizen thought. He glanced where they were hiding… he counted those he could see… '_I think all of them are present…And I agree with Oishi-sempai…Where is she?'_

"She should be here in about twenty-eight seconds." – Inui

"fshhh… There she is sempai…" – Kaidoh

"Wow, Sakuno-chan looks great, nya!" – Kikumaru

"I helped her!" Sakura said proudly.

"She's saying something!" – Momo

"Shhh! Quiet! I can't hear them!" - Sakura

"Ryoma-kun, I'm sorry. Have you waited long?" Sakuno worriedly asked Ryoma who was looking away from her.

"No." Ryoma casually said. As he turned towards the direction of her voice to look at her, he froze.

"Woah, Echizen looks shocked!" – Momo

"Sakuno-chan is really pretty in what she's wearing, nya!" – Kikumaru

"Tezuka-kun, don't you have anything to say?" – Sakura

"…" – Tezuka

"…Echizen should not get careless…" – Tezuka

-sweat drop – everyone else

"Saa, looks like Echizen agrees with you, Eiji." Fuji pointed to a now blushing Ryoma.

"Ryoma-kun are you all right?" Sakuno waved her hands in front of Ryoma's face.

Echizen snapped out from his daze. He was about to pull down his cap when he remembered that he didn't wear it that day '_Stupid Ryoga…' _he thought, as he turned his head away to avoid letting Sakuno see his blush. "I'm fine…"

"Tell her that she looks great!" _someone_ hissed from the wall.

When after a few seconds with no reaction from Ryoma, a pebble was thrown at him, "Tell her that she looks good!" someone said again this time it was more demanding.

With a grunt, Ryoma faced Sakuno "… those clothes…" he began.

Sakuno looked at what she was wearing, wondering if something was wrong with it.

"…they look good on you…" Ryoma finished, blushing a bit.

Sakuno mimicked Ryoma's blush but with a much brighter color. "T-thank you Ryoma…" She finally took time to notice what he was wearing and now it was her turn to stare. Ryoma was even more handsome (if it was ever like possible!) "…You look really great, too…"

"Aww…. They're so cute!" –Sakura

After moments of silence, Ryoma had the mind to remember what they where suppose to be doing in the first place. "Let's go inside. I'm hungry." He said.

When Sakuno nodded, they entered the Sushi shop.

"They're going in! Guys, to your positions!" – Sakura

"Everyone, don't get careless!" – Tezuka

The moment they first stepped inside the shop, Ryoma felt something weird was going on.

The shop was empty of any other customers, and instead of rows of tables lined up at the huge shop, there was a single table for two people at what he figured was the center of the store. All the other tables were pushed to the side neatly. The lights were dimmed and the only bright source of light was the one given out by the candle at the table.

They were both speechless as they neared the table. It was one of those low Japanese tables but it had a very romantic setting. A red tablecloth lined with pink Sakura-petal patterns at the hem covered the whole table. A vase with a single red rose with a pink ribbon tied to it was at the right side, a gold candle holder with a lit candlestick was at the opposite of the flower vase. There were no plates yet, but a set of eating utensils were neatly arranged.

The only thing missing was the music… Or so they thought, because after sitting their selves at the plush black cushion chairs, soft music filled the room.

The atmosphere made them feel a bit uneasy. They kept repeating to themselves '_this is not a date… this is not a date… this is not a date…'_… But everything around them seems to think otherwise.

"The rooms too dark…" Ryoma commented, breaking the silence that enveloped them.

"It is a bit dark…" Sakuno agreed.

"And isn't anyone going to take our orders?" Ryoma said, annoyed. After all, they did come here to eat.

The lights became a tad brighter as Kawamura entered the room in a waiter's outfit.

"Sorry for the long wait, the food will be served in a moment." He said as he approached their table and placed glasses of water in front of them. "Do you need anything in particular?"

They weren't surprised to see Kawamura, after all this was their family's restaurant.

"Yeah, keep the lights this way. It was too dark." Ryoma curtly said.

"Yes, please do." Sakuno said in a more polite manner.

"…please…" Ryoma mumbled after Sakuno.

Kawamura bowed before he left the two.

A while later, Oishi came in with the appetizers, quietly setting the soup bowls in front of the two, and leaving politely with a bow.

Unlike with Kawamura, they did not expect seeing one of the other tennis regulars as a waiter, moreover this was their Oishi-sempai! If the group was planning to do something, he was usually one to oppose the idea. They stared at each other with identical confused expressions.

Sakuno was the first to look away. "Itadakimasu (a/n I think this is the word used by the Japanese before they start eating.)…" Sakuno said before reaching for the spoon.

"Itadakimasu." Ryoma repeated but in a more toneless voice.

"This is delicious!" Sakuno commented after a few tastes.

Ryoma nodded, "Yeah, I wonder if Kawamura sempai cooked this…"

"He did. As well as the other courses that would follow." Fuji suddenly spoke, startling the two freshmen. "Are you done?"

"F-fuji-sempai! I didn't notice that you were there!" Sakuno said.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Fuji apologized with a smile.

"No." Echizen gruffly replied. He was just _surprised _not scared, there was a big difference.

"Saa, if you say so…" he said, smile never decreasing, "…is it alright if I bring in the next course?"

"Yes, Fuji-sempai, thank you very much." Sakuno said. She got up to hand the bowls to her sempai but Fuji stopped her.

"No, no, no… Sakuno, you're the customer, you're not supposed to do anything. We're here to serve you."

"We? Who's we?" Echizen asked warily.

"Why, me and the other regulars, who else…. And Sakura-sensei, too… and of course, Taka." Fuji said in a _isn't-it-obvious?_ tone.

"So that's why Oishi-sempai served us a while ago…" Sakuno mused out loud.

"Yup! Now you two sit down and enjoy you're date…" Fuji chuckled at the blushing faces of his juniors as he left.

He returned after a few minutes with another tray filled with all sorts of sushi. Kaidoh followed after him with plates and Inui with condiments.

"Bon Appetite!" Fuji said with a grin.

Ryoma and Sakuno were eating when Ryoma noticed that his sempais were not leaving, unlike what they did a while ago.

Fuji was watching them intently, definitely amused, and Inui was scribbling in his notebook. Kaidoh was polite enough to look away, though there was a small hint of a blush on his cheeks. Ryoma glared at them. They didn't move. Ryoma stared at them even longer.

"Fsshhh… sempai, I think Echizen wants us to leave." Kaidoh said, finally getting the message.

Fuji pouted, "Do we have to?"

Inui closed his notebook shut, "Data needed for now is complete."

"Already? I want to watch them more…" Fuji whined.

"Fsshh… sempai, buchou looks like he's telling us to leave…" Kaidoh said.

"Aww… fine…" Fuji reluctantly followed the retreating two.

"They finally left…" Echizen said with a sigh when they were alone again, "Now we can eat in silence…"  
After a few bites Sakuno said, "The sushi tastes really good…"

Ryoma mumbled an agreement as he took another bite.

The rest of the meals were held in silence, only a couple of compliments of the food were given. Other than that, they had nothing much to say.

"(yawn) This is boring, nya… they're not doing anything…" – Kikumaru

"(drooling) I want to taste the food…again" – Momo

They were peeking through the kitchen window that has a view of the tables.

"At least they're enjoying the food, right? And they seem to be having fun, too." – Oishi

"I agree with Kikumaru-kun… this is boring…" – Sakura

"Saa, what do you propose on doing then, Sakura-sensei?" – Fuji

"…I don't know… Do you guys have any suggestions?" – Sakura

"Let them have a taste of my new juice? The new Love Mix-- " – Inui

"No!" – Everyone else

"But it's guaranteed to – " – Inui

"No!" – Everyone else

"(sigh) Alright, such a waste. Well then, I suggest that we form another activity." – Inui

"That's right, that's right! Another game… How 'bout an eating contest?!" – Momo

"Fshhh, idiot. They already ate, why do you think they would be interested in an eating contest?" - Kaidoh

"Hoi, hoi don't fight guys! How about party games, nya?! Like 'Musical Chairs' or 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey' or 'Statue Dance…" – Kikumaru

"Um, guys… Who'll serve the next dish?" – Taka

"Oh, it's my turn, Kawamura… Another chance to gather data up-close (grin)" – Inui

"Should we really make them play? After all they just ate! They might get indigestion or something!" – Oishi

"And besides, those aren't really romantic…" – Sakura

"Oh yeah… Maybe we could make them dance?" – Momo

"Saa, that sounds like a great idea… But do you think Echizen would agree to it?" – Fuji

"Nya, you could make him do it Fujiko!" – Eiji

"Fsshh, maybe buchou should tell them…" – Kaidoh

"Baka Mamushi is right for once! Echizen would definitely listen to buchou!" – Momo

"Who you calling baka Mamushi, idiot Peach?!" – Kaidoh

"Stop fighting! I think it's a wonderful idea, but I also agree with Fuji-kun… Those too look too shy to dance together…" - Sakura

"Saa, maybe if it's just the two of them they wouldn't mind." – Fuji

"But, Echizen doesn't look like a dancing person." – Kawamura

"Maybe we could dance with them?" – Oishi

"But Sakura-sensei is the only other girl here besides Sakuno-chan, nya!" – Eiji

"…Maybe you could all dance with Ryuzaki…" – Tezuka

"Wow, Tezuka-kun, you spoke! And that's a great idea! We'll make Echizen-kun so jealous that he'll want to dance with Chibisaku!" – Sakura

"Let's go, nya! I get first dibs!" – Eiji

The door to the kitchen was abruptly opened and out came the Seigaku Male Tennis Club regulars, starting with a wide-grinning, jumpy Kikumaru Eiji.

Ryoma and Sakuno looked at him strangely as they ate their dessert.

"Nya, Sakuno-chan, dance with me!" Kikumaru said as he held out a hand to Sakuno.

"D-dance with you, Kikumaru-sempai?" Sakuno looked disbelievingly.

Sakura inserted a disc with romantic dancing music in the restaurant's audio-stereo (watchamacalits…). "Why don't give it a try Sakuno-chan? If you're shy about dancing alone with Kikumaru-kun, I'll dance along… um," she looked over to the regulars to choose a partner, "Oishi-kun, would you mind dancing with me?" she asked with a smile.

"Not at all, sensei." Oishi gallantly said.

They began to dance. The music wasn't too slow and the music had a fun rhythm to it. Soon Kikumaru along with Sakuno danced, too, though Sakuno was obviously trying her best not to trip. It was becoming quite a hard task, as Kikumaru was too eager in dancing, and was too energetic for Sakuno

"Sakuno-chan, try to relax your hold on Kikumaru-kun, like this… Good! Now Kikumaru, try to hold Sakuno-chan steadier." Sakura gave instructions.

"Hai, hai! Like this sensei? Nya, this is fun!" Kikumaru was enjoying himself. In his enjoyment he twirled Sakuno.

"Are you alright Ryuzaki-san?! Eiji, you shouldn't have twirled her too fast! Are you dizzy? Would you like to rest or to sit down?!" Oishi asked after Sakuno had stopped spinning, though he was still dancing with Sakura.

"N-no, I'm alright, Oishi-sempai…" Sakuno said after she steadied herself.

Oishi sighed from relief, "Good… Eiji, next time, don't twirl her."

Eiji pouted, "Aww, if you say so…"

They continued to dance. Halfway through the song Fuji asked to dance with Sakuno.

"Saa, Ryuzaki-chan, how about dancing with me next?" he asked.

Sakuno nodded, blushing, "Alright, Fuji-sempai."

Sakura and Oishi finished dancing.

"It should be alright to let them dance alone now, right Oishi?" Sakura asked her previous dancing partner.

"Hai (yes), her nervousness should be gone by now… She seems to be enjoying herself." He replied.

And Echizen? He was watching silently at the sidelines sipping a can of grape Ponta.

"Nya, do you think Echizen is jealous yet?" Kimumaru asked Momo.

"There's a 76.8 percent possibility that he is annoyed and I have calculated that there is a 65.4 percent possibility that it will soon lead to jealousy in approximately two minutes and twenty-eight seconds. But the time required to make him actually perform any action regarding his jealousy is yet to be determined." Inui answered.

"Yosh, then we should just continue this." Momo straightened his clothes. "Ryuzaki! Dance with me now!" He shouted as he approached her.

"O-okay Momo-chan-sempai." Fuji released his old on the girl and handed her to Momoshiro. Fuji then took his place beside Echizen, where he quietly watched his dancing kohais.

"You're a great dancer Ryuzaki! Are you having fun?!" Momo asked loud enough for everyone (especially Echizen) to hear.

"Che." Fuji thought he heard Ryoma say. Fuji grinned.

After Momoshiro, the other regulars followed, even Tezuka, after a few (?) coaxing, danced with her.

"Ne, Echizen, Ryuzaki-chan seems to be having a lot of fun dancing, don't you think so?" Fuji asked sometime during the middle of the dances.

"Hn." Was all that Echizen replied.

"Everyone is also enjoying themselves. Ryuzaki-chan is being very nice dancing with all of us…" he continued after a few moments of silence.

"Whatever." Another short reply, but there was now a bit of impatience in his tone.

"Did you enjoy the food by the way?" he asked out of the blue.

"It was alright."

"We put all our hearts into making those dishes, though Taka did most of the cooking…"

"…"

"We especially wanted Ryuzaki-chan to enjoy the food."

Echizen started to glare at the ground.

"Saa, Ryuzaki-chan's laugh is really cute…" Fuji commented.

Ryoma looked up to see a giggling Sakuno dancing with Eiji again.

"Everyone's danced with her at least once… even Sakura-sensei and Tezuka…" Fuji said after Momoshiro danced with her for about the third time.

Fuji thought he heard Ryoma growl in annoyance.

"hmm, I think I want to have a second dance with Ryuzaki-chan…" he dusted off his clothes as he readied himself for another dance. "Saa, Ryuzaki-chan, dance with me again!" he said in a cheery voice.

"Okay Fuji-sempai!" Sakuno replied in an equally eager voice. She was having so much fun that she didn't mind that she was a bit tired from all that dancing.

Ryoma glared at them. _'Why is no one pushing me to dance with her?'_ he asked himself, he already thought of the possibility that he should just present himself to dance with her but his pride would never allow it. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. His only hope was that one of his sempais would 'force' him to dance and he would 'reluctantly' oblige… but it seemed that it wasn't happening anytime soon… but he could wait... maybe…

"If you don't ask her to dance anytime soon, Sakuno-chan might already be tired from dancing…" Sakura said, her voice quiet enough so that it was only Echizen that could hear her.

Ryoma turned to look at her, she wasn't looking at him, instead she was watching Sakuno dance.

"Hn…" he said, taking another sip from his can of Ponta.

Still without looking at Ryoma, Sakura spoke, "…Your friends are a really nice bunch, Echizen-kun…" when Ryoma didn't respond, she continued, "...very supportive, helpful, energetic, most of the time responsible enough…" she giggled a bit, "…and they really care about you, and they want you to be happy…"

"What are you trying to say?" Ryoma finally said with an eyebrow raised.

"Nothing, I was just approving your choice of friends…." She paused, "Do you know the saying 'tell me who your friends are, and I'll tell you who you are.'?"

"Yeah…?" he said, still not getting the point of this conversation.

Sakura shrugged, "Your choice of friends tell a lot about your personality…If that's the case… then you get my approval Echizen-kun…" she turned to smile at him, "…Sakuno… is like my sister… take care of her, okay?" without waiting for his reaction she left his side. "You should really dance with her, already!" she shouted as she retreated.

"Che." He said, feet still rooted to the spot.

He watched the scene before him. They long finished dancing and now everyone else laughing alongside Sakuno…

"Data is complete. Approximately sixteen seconds before Echizen decides to make any form of movement besides standing near the wall…" Inui announced to his companions, careful that the said boy will not hear him.

The others nodded. "Okay let's just continue what were doing!" Sakura whispered to the group. Sakuno looked at them, confused.

They all began to speak out loud.

"Hahaha! Nya! I'm having so much fun with you Sakuno-chan?" – Eiji

"Huh?" - Sakuno

"BURNING! Here Ryuzaki, have another taste of my special sushi! EAT IT, BABY!" – Kawamura.

"Um, Thank you, Kawamura-sempai…" – Sakuno

Ryoma was beginning to twitch

"Yo, Ryuzaki! (rubs her head) You were a really great dancer!" – Momo

"Thank you, Momo-chan-sempai… you were great, too…" – Sakuno

"You're better, being able to dance nicely with Mamushi!" – Momo

"Who you calling Mamushi!... And are you saying that I'm a bad dancer?!" – Kaidoh

"Yeah, so what Mamushi?!" – Momo

"You wanna fight, you Peach with two left feet?!" - Kaidoh

Ryoma's eyebrow was raised at the commotion.

"Ryuzaki-san, did you tire yourself out too much from all that dancing? Do you need anything? Did you enjoy yourself?" – Oishi

"I'm fine, Oishi-sempai. And, yes, I had so much fun (smile)" – Sakuno

"How about a drink of my new juice the 'Power Dancing fruit and vegetable juice', guaranteed to bring back energy after dancing continuously!" – Inui

"(shiver) N-no, thank you Inui-sempai…" - Sakuno

"Saa, Ryuzaki-chan (circles arms around Sakuno's shoulders) how about you come with us today! You don't have anything to do right?" – Fuji

"That's a great idea Fuji-kun, Sakuno-chan, you could bond with all of us here!" – Sakura

"Um, What about Ryoma-kun?" – Sakuno

"He doesn't seem to be interested…" – Tezuka

"Nya, yeah! You'll have much more fun with us!" – Eiji

"That's right, that's right! He probably doesn't want to be here right now, since he isn't even joining us!" – Momo

That was the final straw for Echizen. He stormed towards the group, grabbed Sakuno's wrist and led her outside, much to the confusion of Sakuno and the amusement of everyone else.

"Ii data…" Inui mumbled, breaking the silence.

"Plan successful!" Sakura said with a victory sign. "Let's follow them!" she suggested.

After some debate of respecting other's privacy (mostly by Oishi, Kaidoh and Tezuka, though he didn't really help much), those who wanted to go still won in the end. And so another bout of spying began.

XxXxXxXxX

"R-ryoma-kun?..." Sakuno asked when they stopped walking.

"What?" he said, not looking at her.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

He thought about it for sometime. He didn't really think of any place to go to and the action earlier was too spontaneous to allow him to think of anything. "I…Don't know…" he finally answered.

"O-okay… how about going to the park?" she suggested, "It'll be more quiet and peaceful there…"

"That'll do…" He half-dragged her by the wrist to the general direction of the park.

Neither of them noticed that his hand was loosening his hold on her wrist…

Not far away…

"Nya! Fujiko! Fujiko! You're getting pictures of this, right? Right?"

"Of course (wide grin)…"

When they stopped to wait for the light to turn green so that they could cross the street, Sakuno noticed that Ryoma's grip on her wrist was gone, instead, she felt something in her palm. Looking down, she saw that his hand was cupping hers! She instantly blushed.

"R-ryoma-kun?"

"Hn."

"I-it's not that I mind or anything… but…"

"But…"

"It's just that…"

"What."

"You're holding my hand!" she quickly said, turning her head to look away.

"Huh?" True enough, when he looked down, their hands were clasped together. "I-I didn't notice…"

"It's alright…" She was about to remove her hand from his hold when she felt that he tightened it even more, making it hard for her to take it out. "R-ryoma-kun?"

"You said that you didn't mind it, right?" he asked, giving her a sideways glance.

Sakuno felt her heart pound, "Y-yeah…" she said, but in her mind she was saying, '_Of course I don't mind! I've been waiting for so long for this kind of thing to happen!... Wait?! Did I just said 'yeah'? Ahh! It's like I practically confessed that I liked him! I'm so stupid!'_

While Sakuno looked like she was having an internal conflict, Ryoma smirked. She was cute when she was flustered, he said to himself.

"Let's go." He said as he adjusted his hold on her so that their hands were interlaced. "The light's already green…"

"H-hai!" she said as she allowed herself to be slightly dragged by him as she blushed.

Somewhere behind them…again…

"Kya!!! Did you get that? Did you get that?! Tell me you got that, Fuji-kun!" Sakura asked shaking Fuji, who seemed unfazed by the action. "Hai, Sakura-sensei, I got a picture of that."

When they arrived at the park they made their selves comfortable by sitting on a nearby bench. The whole time, Ryoma didn't even release his hold. Sakuno loved every minute of it but she was becoming to feel really uneasy.

"Ryoma-kun – "

"Would you want some ice cream?" he cut her off.

Sakuno was shocked by the sudden proposal so she could only nod.

Ryoma released her hand so he could buy some snow cones. "Strawberry?" he asked from behind his back.

"Yes, please…" she replied.

He returned with one cone in each hand. He handed the strawberry-flavored one to Sakuno.

"T-thank you…" she smiled at him.

They spent the rest of the day together wandering aimlessly around the park, occasionally looking around, pointing at various objects and having short conversations. Needless to say, they were having fun.

"(Cough)…" Ryoma coughed at one time.

"Are you alright Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno worriedly asked.

"It's nothing (cough). I just… choked on my spit or something. I'm fine…" he said.

"Okay…"

Later, he coughed again.

"Cough, cough"

"Ryoma-kun, are you sure you're fine?" Sakuno asked him again.

"Yeah." He said defiantly.

He tried to hold back when he felt that he was about to cough again, but there was this one cough that was persistent.

"Cough" he winced when it went out.

"Ryoma-kun, maybe we should go home already. That cough didn't sound too good." She said-- her tone anxious.

"Don't worry –"

"Don't say that, Ryoma-kun," her face looked determined. "If you're not feeling well, then you should rest. I wouldn't like it if you suddenly got really sick. And you'd miss so much in class if you got absent. And if it got worse then you'll miss a lot of stuff, a lot of people would be worried about you, especially me. The tennis club would need you to be healthy for tournaments. And…and…"

"Okay." He sighed in defeat.

"Okay?" she repeated. "We're going home?" he nodded.

"I'll walk you back to your place." He grabbed her hand, interlacing them with his. She nodded at him happily with a smile. He smiled back.

"I wouldn't want you to get worried, now would I?" he said before he dragged her once again.

XxXxXxXxX

Omake (I'm so happy that I get to make Omakes!) or is it? ( I don't know what to call this part…)

"Inui-kun… Echizen's cough… it didn't sound too good…" Sakura asked. She was as worried as Sakuno.

"I-I'm not sure…" Inui flipped through his notes, "There were no signs of any sickness whatsoever this whole morning…"

"Oh no! Did Echizen eat something bad?" – Oishi

"(scared/worried) could it be because of the food that I made?" – Kawamura

"No, that's highly improbable, right Inui? All of us ate the same food at the store…" – Fuji

"Yes, the chance that Kawamura's cooking has caused any diseases is zero percent." – Inui

"Nya, I hope Ochibi's alright…" – Eiji

"Don't worry sempais! That brat, Echizen, has a strong stomach; he'll probably never get food poisoning!" – Momo

"Fshh…. Like you…" – Kaidoh

"I'll ignore that Mamushi… (glare)" – Momo

"(glare)" – Kaidoh

"Behave yourselves! Inui, figure out what is wrong with Echizen, we need him to be healthy for the upcoming tournaments." – Tezuka

"Glad to see you're worried Tezuka-kun. Inui, look out for him. We trust you (smile)… Now Fuji! Be sure to give me a copy of those pictures!" – Sakura

"Of course, sensei (smile)" – Fuji

XxXxXxXxX

Weee!!! Another long chapter!

Thank you to Nina Natsu for the hand holding idea!

I'm sorry if I ended the chapter with a dilemma! I'll try my best to do better at school so I can focus back on my story! I'll see you guys soon!

Review if you please!


	10. Homework

A/N: Taking time off studying to write… my poor brain needs to relax… ): the start of this chapter seems a bit cracky for me, actually I think the whole chapter is cracky… But kinda OOC, though…

Spoiler warning: mentions of something that happened in Genius 370-something issue… I forgot…

**Disclaimer: **Nope, I don't own Prince of Tennis… I know… absurd, right? Hehe…

--------------

Homework

--------------

Monday, two days after the date…

Sakura surveyed the room once more. Only one chair was missing its occupant. It didn't make much of a difference though, because even if the chair's owner was physically present, his mind was practically absent most of the time, which actually bothered Sakura a lot…but at least he made an effort to go to class…

But now, Echizen Ryoma has called in sick… who knew dedicated athlete such as himself would be subjected to diseases? Especially when said athlete would never dare to miss any trainings for his beloved sport… It never really occurred to her…

She shook her head. What could've happened to the boy? Oh well, she'll just have to check on him later… and maybe she should bring Sakuno along, too.

She smirked to herself. She just gets the greatest ideas, doesn't she?

She was mentally praising herself when someone knocked on the door, which opened to reveal a third year student with spiky hair and rectangular glasses.

"Inui-kun, come in, come in. What brings you here?" Sakura greeted the data-tennis player.

"Sakura-sensei, I have the information about Echizen Ryoma that you were asking for." He said.

The students gaped at the oblivious teacher who was smiling at Inui. Information that she wanted about Echizen? Was the teacher some kind of stalker? And coincidentally Echizen is absent… Did the teacher have something to do about it? Hmmm… suspicious…

"Really? Thank you, Inui-kun! Well, what do you have?" Sakura asked, ignorant of the wary stares the students were giving her.

Inui cleared his throat before reporting, a faint touch of pink can be found on his face, "Um, well, hehe… It seems that Echizen has been, how should I say this… an unfortunate 'victim' to the juice…"

"Juice?" Sakura titled her head to the side.

"Yes… The Inui juice that he drank during the treasure hunting game…" Inui said, feeling a bit regretful that it was his juice that caused the boy wonder to be sick.

"Sakura-sensei, is my Ryoma-sama sick?!" Tomoka asked (screamed…). The other students gasped at the revelation. '_So… the teacher isn't a stalker then…'_ they thought.

Sakura nodded. "Yes, Osakada-chan. But please, lower your voice… I'm just in front of you…"she sighed, "Well, why is he the only one absent today? Shouldn't the others who also drank the juice be affected, too?"

"Oh, that is because he has become slightly immune to the drink, so the effects must have affected him at a much later time than the others who already passed out upon contact with the beverage. Those who drank it got sick over the weekend and are now well enough to enter class, but Echizen has managed to delay it, and thus he is absent today. But with my calculations he would be fine by tomorrow." Inui's glasses glinted, "And besides, some were too afraid to actually drink the juice and only about a quarter of the whole class tasted it, so it isn't obvious that many were actually affected by the juice."

"Thank you Inui-kun, you may go now…" Sakura dismissed the third year. "Well, maybe it's for the better that some of you were too scared to actually drink the juice… Too bad that Echizen-kun is absent today…"

"What?! Echizen is sick?! With my five years of tennis experience, Echizen was never sick!" Horio exclaimed, trying to hide the fact that he was one of those who didn't even drink the juice, though his exclamation was a bit delayed...

"But didn't he get amnesia that one time…" some random person whispered to his seatmate.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure, like any other normal person, Echizen gets sick, too…" his seatmate agreed.

"…And isn't it normal for an athlete to be injured especially during matches…" another added

"THIS IS ECHIZEN WERE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE! _THE_ Prince of Tennis! Why on earth would you relate him to a _normal_ person?!" Horio overheard their conversation and being the arrogant person that he is, he would not admit that he was wrong.

"Echizen-kun got amnesia?" Sakura asked after releasing a gasp.

"Yes, it was before he battled Yukimura-san in the nationals during our first year. But Ryoma-kun managed to recover…" Sakuno answered, while murmuring to herself – "He recovered even before I managed to get to him to help… (sigh)"

"RYOMA-SAMA WAS SOOOO AWESOME THAT TIME! _Everyone_ was obviously amazed by his greatness! He managed to…" Tomoka began to enumerate various praises about Ryoma.

The class continued to ramble on various topics, completely taking the opportunity that everyone just suddenly decided to ignore the piqued teacher in front and that they were supposed to be studying English lessons that morning.

Did I mention that the teacher was piqued? I did? Well, she was… So she did what any person would have done….

"Class…" She said under gritted teeth. No one paid her any attention.

"Yeah, and I heard he had bread that morning." Totally random remark by a random student.

"Students…" She called out, voice a bit louder. The class didn't respond.

"…So, the girl kicked him? No way! What did the guy say?!" squealed a student.

"Everyone, listen please…" She tried sweet and nice. Still didn't work.

"... Well, I heard that frying is dangerous to your health." Boasted one person…

"EVERYONE QUIET DOWN OR ELSE THERE'LL BE A HUNDRED-ITEM QUIZ AND A TWO-THOUSAND-WORD ESSAY WAITING FOR YOU!" Sakura shouted, fists clenched and eyes closed.

When she opened her eyes, she found pale and scared looking students staring back at her. Other gulped when she raised an eyebrow.

She let out an audible sigh. She waved her hand in a dismissing manner and then used the same hand to rub her temples.

"Really, you kids are going to make me look older than I already am…" she whined. "Just get your textbooks and open them to page 97…"

XxXxXxXxX

Later after school…

"Sakuno-chan!" Sakura called out when she saw the girl in the hallway.

"Yes, sensei?" The girl said when she approached the teacher.

"You're Echizen-kun's study partner, right?" Sakura asked innocently with a bright smile.

Sakuno nodded, blush adorning her face.

"Then you wouldn't mind coming with me to bring Echizen-kun's homework, right?" Sakura asked with a grin.

"N-not at all sensei…" Sakuno answered, blush getting redder.

"Great! Let's go! Lead the way Sakuno-chan!" Sakura gently pushed Sakuno towards the school gates. "Now, which way Sakuno-chan?" Sakura asked when they reached the gates.

"Um… I think it's this way…" Sakuno slowly walked towards a path.

Twenty minutes later.

"That tree…" Sakura said, face showing utmost concentration on the said tree.

"…"

"Wahh! It's the same tree as the one I saw five minutes ago! And the same one thirteen minutes ago. We also passed that same tree when we left the school…" Sakura gasped in shock.

"I'm sorry sensei… I think were lost…" Sakuno apologized sheepishly.

Sakura sighed, "It can't be helped then… Let's try this way." Sakura was now the one leading.

Fifteen minutes later.

"Sensei… that house…" Sakuno trailed off. "We've passed that three times already…"

"Ahaha..ha…ha…" Sakura timidly started, her pointer fingers fiddling with each other. "It seems that I have gotten us lost, too…"

Both girls sighed._ 'We're hopeless…'_ they thought.

"Maybe we should just ask for directions." Sakura suggested.

"That's a great idea sensei." Sakuno agreed.

XxXxXxXxX

"So, let me get this straight… you got food poisoned by this chemical that your sempai made you drink?..." Ryoga asked, hand on chin.

"It's not a chemical… it's juice…" Ryoma answered. He was lying down on his bed while petting Karupin. Ryoga was sitting in one of the chairs.

"Right, right… juice… what did he call it? Itsuki juice?" Ryoga rubbed his head.

"Inui juice…" Ryoma sighed.

"Inui juice. Got it. Okay, this Inui juice is made of what actually?" Ryoga continued to question.

Ryoma shrugged, "No clue…" After so many occasions of having drank the juice, they never really bothered to question its ingredients anymore… and maybe they would be better off not knowing anyway.

"Hmmm… and he said it's edible?"

Ryoma nodded.

"It's edible and yet you're sick… And are you sure that that juice was the one that made you sick? Maybe you just ate something bad, or caught a cold. I mean, you drank that juice Friday… had a date on Saturday –"

"Wasn't a date." Ryoma corrected nonchalantly. He was now sitting up and was staring at Ryoga with a blank expression.

"Fine. You ate out Saturday, and you began coughing later that day. Not exactly a symptom of food poisoning…" Ryoga stated.

"I'm sure it's the juice" Ryoma said resolutely.

Ryoga sighed. "If you say so… Well, you wanna rest or something? Mom said that you don't have to do anything today so you can be well enough to go to school tomorrow…"

"Whatever."

"Everyone else is out, which means I'm your servant for today… If you need anything, just holler. And when I said holler, I meant that you should just shut up and you better not ask me to do anything for you!" Ryoga said warned.

Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "I'm telling on you." He said in monotone.

"What!!! You're such a brat!" Ryoga exclaimed, "You're too old for that! Don't you dare tell on me!"

"Try me." Ryoma said, expression unchanging.

"Come on, don't tell on me!" Ryoga pleaded. "I'm your big brother! Don't you love me anymore?!"

Ryoma smirked, "Mada mada dane… get the door, I think I heard the doorbell."

Sure enough, the familiar chimes rang once again, signaling that, indeed, someone was at the door.

"Huh? Who could that be?" Ryoga asked to no one in particular as he left Ryoma's room. "And you better not be a tattletale Ryoma!" he shouted.

Ryoma smiled as he petted Karupin. '_Ryoga can be pretty amusing sometimes…'_ he fondly thought.

"Mreow" Karupin purred.

XxXxXxXxX

_Ding Dong_

"Coming! Coming!" Ryoga shouted.

When he opened the door, a smiling face greeted him.

"Hello Echizen-kun!" Sakura greeted. (a/n: when Sakura says Echizen-kun she is referring to Ryoma.)

"Saku-chan! What brings you here?" Ryoga smiled charmingly at the girl. (a/n: and Saku-chan would obviously be supposedly Sakuno)

'_Saku-chan? Since when din Echizen-kun call me that? And…and… he's smiling! He must have been affected by the juice more than we've thought! He's delirious!'_ Sakura thought, alarmed at the boy's cheerful greeting and intimate name calling.

"Saku-chan! You're staring at me! Have you missed me that much! You're really so cute!" Ryoga hugged Sakura.

"Ack! He is delirious!" Sakura exclaimed when Ryoga grabbed her. "And stop calling me Saku-chan, Echizen-kun! You have no respect!" she reprimanded.

"But Saku-chan! That name is cute! And I told you to stop calling me Echizen! It's okay if you just call me by my name!"

"Ryoga-san?" a small voice called out from behind Sakura.

"Huh?" Ryoga, who was still hugging Sakura, was surprised when he heard what he thinks he recalls as Sakuno's voice, but the voice didn't belong to the one he was hugging.

"Ryoga-san, it is you, nice to meet you again!" Sakuno bowed in greeting.

"Eh?" Ryoga released Sakura. He turned his head between Sakuno's direction and then to Sakura's direction. _'Wait… if the one back there is Sakuno-chan… then who is this girl who looks like her?!'_

"You're not Echizen-kun?" The girl-who-looks-like-Sakuno asked.

"You're not Saku-chan?" the guy-that-looks-like-Ryoma asked back.

"Who are you?!" Both asked at the same time.

Sakuno sweat-dropped at the display. Both grown-ups where pointing at each other, gaping with shocked expressions.

"Sakura-sensei, this is Echizen Ryoga-san, Ryoma-kun's older brother." Sakuno said, "Ryoga-san, this is Sakura-sensei, our teacher."

Both had 'o' shaped expressions when realization dawned upon them.

"Uh…Echizen-san…" Sakura started.

Ryoga shook his head, "Ryoga is fine, it'll be confusing if you use our surname in this house… And besides I'm used to my first name being used, having stayed in America and all."

"Very well, Ryoga-san, sorry for the confusion. It is a pleasure to meet you." Sakura bowed, a hint of blush on her face.

"Nice to meet you, too, Sakura-sensei!" Ryoga said.

"You don't have to call me sensei… I'm not your teacher…" Sakura commented.

"Nice to meet you, too, Sakura!" he repeated.

Sakura chuckled, "Where is Echi-- I mean, Ryoma-kun, by the way?"

"Oh, Chibisuke? He's upstairs…"

"Um , we brought his homework Ryoga-san." Sakuno handed Ryoga a bunch of papers and books.

Ryoga grinned, "Do you mind if you bring him that, Sakuno-chan? I, um, I need to… get food and tea for you! Yeah, food and tea!"

"Oh, it's alright Ryoga-san, you don't need to get us anything, right sensei? We'll be leaving after we hand Ryoma-kun's homework to him." Sakuno flustered.

"Nonsense! It's my duty as host to provide you food. Think of it as thanks for bringing Chibisuke's assignments! And sensei, you wouldn't mind helping me get the food won't you? So Sakuno-chan, you have to give those to Chibisuke yourself!" he defended.

Sakura was quick to catch up with what Ryoga was planning, _'It seems that Ryoga has the same intentions as me! Great, he will be a great accomplice!'_ "Yes, yes! Sakuno-chan, bring Ryoma-kun's homework to him while I help Ryoga-san with the food!" she said all too eagerly.

Poor Sakuno had no choice but to comply, but inside she was very happy to do it. "O-okay, if you say so…"

The 'adults' grinned at each other, mentally congratulating each other and themselves.

She was halfway up the stairs before she stopped, "Um, Ryoga-san… which way to Ryoma-kun's room?"

The adults fell down – anime style…

XxXxXxXxX

"Since you complied all too easily with my request, I'm guessing we're thinking about the same thing." Ryoga said as he rummaged around their fridge for any edible snacks.

"If you're thinking about getting Sakuno-chan and Echizen-kun together… then yes." Sakura, who was boiling water, confirmed.

Ryoga smirked, "Straightforward, aren't we? But I'm glad; Chibisuke seems really interested in Saku-chan. I've never seen him act as he does around her."

"And it just too obvious that Sakuno-chan feels the same way." Sakura continued, "She's easy to convince since she's already sure about her feelings for Echizen-kun, but your brother is a different story."

"I know. That brat is too absorbed with tennis that he doesn't notice anything else. But it does seem that Saku-chan has an effect on him whenever she's around him, he just needs to realize it." Ryoga said as he placed cake four cake slices on separate plates and placed them on a tray.

"…And that's where we come in?" she asked as she added tea leaves to the pot.

Ryoga nodded enthusiastically.

XxXxXxXxX

Finally at the top of the stairs, Sakuno carefully tried to follow the directions Ryoga gave her. _'It's the second door down when you reach the top.'_

Shouldn't be too hard right?

_Knock knock_

The door opened and Sakuno peeked in to see… the bathroom.

Sakuno sighed. She tried the other second door.

_Knock knock_

"What took you so long." Was the answer that she got. _'Ryoma-kun!' _she thought excitedly.

"Um, Ryoma-kun… it's me… Ryuzaki Sakuno." She answered.

The door opened to reveal a cat-printed-pajama clad Echizen Ryoma (and what cute pajamas they were!) holding the doorknob with his left hand and Karupin in his right. He still has bed hair which meant that he probably just woke up a while ago. Sakuno just had to blush at the scene. Oh how she wishes that she had a camera.

"R-ryoma-kun…" Sakuno greeted, looking down at her feet.

"Ryuzaki." Ryoma acknowledged, still standing motionless at the door, not at all surprised that there is a girl (Sakuno!) in front of him and he's still wearing his pajamas.

"Um, I brought you your homework." Sakuno handed the papers to Ryoma, head still bowed.

"Thanks." Ryoma took the papers. He turned to place them on his study table. He was about to return to his (very) comfortable bed when he noticed that Sakuno was still standing there.

"What?" he asked her, eyebrow raised.

Sakuno's face turned even redder, "Oh! I'm sorry Ryoma-kun! Do you want me to leave?" she flustered.

Ryoma thought about it. He doesn't really want to be disturbed right now… but… she seems to have something to say. And it might be rude to just make her leave. And she looks like she doesn't want to leave yet… so… he's just making excuses... "Fine. Come in."

Sakuno beamed. The first thing that she did upon entering _the_ room of _the _Echizen Ryoma was to stare and try to take in everything. Ahhh, what a sight!

...Okay, maybe not…

Clothes were strewn in various places. Shirts and pants were hanging off chairs, tables and even on the headboards and were also threatening to fall off their hangers. Various caps (who knew he had more than one?) were on the bed poles, sitting on top of trophies and other places. Shoes were under the tables and the bed, and thrash were scattered along the floor. Cat toys and cat food were piled near the foot of the bed. Not exactly the cleanest room there is… but it could've been worse…right?

Focusing on other things besides the mess, Sakuno could see books and magazines on the shelves and some were lying open on the study table along with various school supplies. His bed showed signs that someone had just recently gotten up from it, blankets creased and pillows scattered. The bed was facing a television with video games plugged into it. A computer was between the television and the CD rack (which were noted to have more or less thirty CDs, but whether the CDs were for PC/PS3 games, music or videos, are for now unknown). Sakuno was busy admiring the posters and photos located in one side of the wall when she heard someone calling out her name.

"Ryuzaki... Oi, Ryuzaki..."

"Huh? Oh! Sorry about that Ryoma-kun."

"Hn. Do you need anything?" he asked as he sat himself on the bed. Karupin jumped away from him and proceeded to his bowl.

Sakuno shook her head, "No, I'm fine Ryoma-kun. How about you? Are you well?"

"Yeah, I should be able to go back to practice tomorrow." He was swinging his racket while sitting down, oh how he has missed practice! "…and _maybe_ school, too…"

"That's great!" Sakuno caught herself acting too thrilled, and tried to lower it a bit so as not to embarrass herself, "I mean, it's nice to hear that Ryoma-kun…"

_Swish, swish, swish_

"…" – Sakuno

_Swish, swish, swish_

"…" – Sakuno

_Swish, swish, swi-_

"Aren't you going to sit down?" Ryoma asked in mid-swing.

"Huh?! Uh, yes!" she quickly looked around for an empty chair. Seeing one, she grabbed it hastily and sat down.

"Hn." Ryoma returned his focus to his racket. He extracted a ball and made it bounce on his racket.

_Donk, donk, donk_

_Donk_

_Donk_

_Donk_

Ryoma felt Sakuno's gaze. Why was she staring at him? Okay she does that a lot. But he can't help feeling something was off.

"Mreow."

Karupin was staring at his clothes… Then he noticed he was still in his pajamas (his favorite Karupin printed pair.). So that was why. He woke up only a few minutes before Ryoga talked to him, so he forgot to take a bath. He wordlessly stood up and proceeded to grab clothes out of his closet.

Sakuno watched him as he went outside his room. She guessed that he was going to take a bath. _'And he just left me inside his room…'_ she thought, astounded.

"Mreow."

"Oh, hello. You must be Karupin." Karupin, to Sakuno's surprise, jumped to her lap, circling a few times before finding a comfortable position on it. Sakuno smiled fondly at the cat, she didn't notice that her hand automatically rested on top of the feline and began petting it. She became aware of it when she heard contented purrs.

"Oh, how cute!" she gave it a bright smile. They stayed like that for a while.

"He likes you."

Sakuno titled her head up to see Ryoma standing at the door, hand in pocket. He looked so handsome with his hair slightly wet and in such a pose as he approached her. Sakuno could just swoon.

When he was beside her, he stopped to pet Karupin that was sleeping soundly in Sakuno's lap. "Karupin must really like you. He doesn't get this comfortable with strangers."

"Really? I'm glad." Sakuno sheepishly smiled while blushing. "Maybe Karupin is just really nice." She said still not believing that this nice cat would be so picky.

Ryoma shook his head, "No. He only does that when he thinks a person looks attractive." He smirked at her.

Sakuno flushed. "T-then why would Karupin like me… I don't look that good…"

"Really? Karupin usually has a great sense of aesthetics, for a cat. And I usually agree with his choices."

Sakuno chose not to give a reply. Not that she could anyway, her mind was too happy. If Ryoma agrees with Karupin then does he also think that she looks nice? It was just too much for her. Everyone knows how important Karupin is to Ryoma; the cat was one of the standards you had to pass in order to gain his attention. If she talked she could only humiliate herself.

"Hn. And you know what else _he_ likes about a person?"

Sakuno shook her head.

"That person has to be quiet for starters." He smirked again.

Sakuno giggled. If Tomoka heard that she'd probably do a personality change and be as silent as a mouse. "You should tell that to Tomoka-chan then." She voiced out.

"Hmm," he pretended to think, "Maybe. Do you think if I told her that she'd shut up?" he asked.

That was a bit insensitive but what else can you expect from Ryoma? He is, after all, known for being straight to the point. "Yeah, I think so."

"_Karupin_ still wouldn't like her, though. _He_ likes people who are nice." He said. Emphasis on the words 'he' and 'Karupin' as if he's implying something else. Like he wasn't talking about Karupin anymore.

"How could Karupin tell if a person is kind?" Sakuno asked incredulously. "And Tomoka-chan is nice, too!"

"He just does, it's like how he is with Nanako-san. Osakada doesn't seem that refined." He replied nonchalantly.

"That's right, Nanako-chan is really nice…And Tomoka-chan does sometimes move too hastily."

"Karupin and Nanako-san get along well."

"What else does Karupin like?" Sakuno asked.

"He likes someone who can play tennis."

"Why?"

"I think he likes playing with the ball."

"That's cute."

"He also likes someone that is sometimes shy…"

"…" Sakuno was stroking Karupin's fur as she listened to Ryoma's voice

"… Sometimes a bit clumsy…"

"… Very helpful…"

"…can cook well…"

"... with bright and beautiful eyes…"

"…has a nice smile…"

"… and long hair…"

Sakuno finally looked at Ryoma who was also staring at her and said with a pout, "You're making that up."

"How would you know?" he said, eyebrow raised.

"Well, those are pretty narrowed descriptions… I don't think he would be that picky." She answered, oblivious to the fact that the descriptions almost resemble her.

"Like I said, how would you know what _he_ likes? How would you know that _he_ isn't picky."

"He's a cat! Even if he is smart, which I'm sure he is, he couldn't possibly be that critical about his preferences… and even if you are his owner, I don't think you'd be able to tell what are his exact likes or dislikes." She reasoned.

"Maybe I wasn't talking about what the cat likes…or maybe I wasn't referring to the cat in general." he said in a slightly hushed voice.

"What?" Sakuno wasn't able to catch what he was saying… or does she?

"Nothing. Let's go downstairs." He changed the topic.

"I forgot to tell you, Sakura-sensei came with me. I think she's helping Ryoga-kun downstairs."

XxXxXxXxX

Back to Sakura and Ryoga's conversation at the kitchen.

"…And that's where we come in?" she asked as she added tea leaves to the pot.

Ryoga nodded enthusiastically.

"Yup! We need to make Chibisuke realize his true feelings!" Ryoga said, raising the forks that he was holding in show of determination. "But are you sure you want to help me… I mean, I can understand if I, his brother, would want to meddle with Ryoma's love life… but you're their teacher, isn't this against the teacher's code or something? And I don't understand why you are so eager in getting them together."

Sakura had to frown at Ryoga's reasoning, "That's true… it is quite unorthodox for teachers to meddle with their students' private affairs… but I have my reasons."

"…such as?" Ryoga continued to ask as he added cookies to the tray.

"Think of it this way, you are concerned about Ryoma-kun because he is your brother. The same goes for me, my students are like my siblings, so to speak. And I am especially fond of Sakuno for reasons that I do not want to disclose." She explained. She placed the teapot on the tray, along with tea cups, sugar and milk.

"Well, hey, who am I to press on further? I'm just the brother of one of your students, whom you are coincidentally trying to set up with a girl." He said as he carried the tray to the living room.

He set the tray of food on the coffee table and gestured for them to sit down on the couches.

He sat with a 'plop' before talking again, "I'm not one to say this, but you should be careful. Putting your nose inside your students' businesses could taint your reputation as a teacher."

Sakura sitting daintily on the couch opposite Ryoga replied casually, "How can you be so sure that I've been, how you put it, 'putting my nose inside my students' businesses'"

"Not really sure… just felt like you're that type of person." Ryoga shrugged. "But come to think of it, you seem to know a lot about the relationship of those two."

"What can I say? Sakuno-chan and I are pretty close."

"A bit too close may be a more appropriate description. And of all your students to ask to accompany you to bring my brother's homework, you chose Sakuno-chan. That sounds nosy to me."

"Has it occurred to you that those two may have been study partners at school, which is actually the case that we have here?"

"Okay, so they're study partners. That still doesn't explain why you were so eager in making Sakuno go upstairs to my brother's room."

"You suggested that in the first place."

"You agreed too quickly."

"…So?…" Okay, Sakura felt like she was acting like too much of a child, but she couldn't help it!

Ryoga smirked. "So, you're a busybody! Admit it!" (Let the childish bantering begin!)

"I know you are but what am I?!" (Oooohhh, nice retort Sakura.)

"A busybody!" Ryoga exclaimed, "You probably use your power as a teacher into getting Sakuno and Ryoma together!"

"Insinuator! You most likely force your brother to date just so you can have some entertainment!" (Where on earth did come from? The author doesn't know…)

"Yeah, dates that you, their _teacher,_ set-up!" (Oohh, point Ryoga!)

"…You….well, you…!" (Sakura's losing here!) "You're just some brother who always pokes around his younger brother's business!"

"At least we're related! As Ryoma's big brother it's like my_ job_ to annoy him!" (true, true.)

"Oh yeah! Well Sakuno's my sister and you don't see me making fun of her! I'm a better older sibling, so ha!" Sakura put out her tongue… really mature.

"I give great advice to Ryoma! I'm better!" (Oh, so now it's 'I'm the greatest older sibling ever!' battle.)

"I help Sakuno with her troubles and give awesome advice! I'm better _and_ nicer!"

"I'm handosomer!"

"That's grammatically incorrect! It should be more handsome!... And that has nothing to do with who's the better sibling!"

"Of course it does! It makes one proud to have such a handsome and wonderful older brother such as myself!" Ryoga gave a handsome pose.

"Oh please!" Sakura scoffed, "If that is how you rank how wonderful a sibling you are, then I'm the best sister Sakuno's ever had!"

"You guys are _so _mature…" Ryoma commented sarcastically. Behind him was a stunned looking Sakuno.

XxXxXxXxX

Wahaha! Cliffhanger, is it? The ending of this wasn't how I originally planned it to be… Oh well. Now, I should really be studying… (groan)

OH, and something random: I just watched the dream live tenimyus, so funny. The actors are so cute. But I've only managed to watch dream live 1st, 3rd, and 4th, does anyone know where I can find a video of dream live 2nd with English subs? Thanks! 

And a review would be really nice, too!


	11. Grasp

a/n: I know… it has taken me so long to get this chapter done… sorry XP But, please, enjoy!

Warning: Reference to the Prince of Tennis Movie: The Two Samurais, the First Game But you don't have to necessarily watch the movie.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Prince of Tennis. It belongs to Konomi-sama.

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Grasp

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"_Oh please!" Sakura scoffed, "If that is how you rank how wonderful a sibling you are, then I'm the best sister Sakuno's ever had!"_

"_You guys are _so_ mature…" Ryoma commented sarcastically. Behind him was a stunned looking Sakuno._

XxXxXxXxXxX

"Sakuno…" Voice barely over a whisper, Sakura tried to calmly asses the situation.

She and Ryoga were arguing over something… something childish…

'What were we talking about again?' Sakura asked herself.

She tried to recall the beginning of their conversation. It started along nicely until Ryoga told Sakura that she was meddling with the lives of her students. It then escalated into a debate about being nosy, wherein Ryoga argued that he had the right to do so because he was Ryoma's brother. Sakura, not wanting to be outdone and wasn't thinking straight, countered with…

'_Oh no.'_ Sakura's face paled, '_I said I was Sakuno's sister!'_ She was left frozen as the thought consumed her.

Meanwhile, Ryoga stared at the scene confusion written all over his face. He was wondering why everyone looked so serious all of the sudden. Ever since they heard Ryoma talk (effectively catching the older pair's attention), both of the ladies were now looking considerably frightened. He thought that maybe it was due to the noise that he and Sakura were making when they had an argument, but surely two people fighting wouldn't instill such a reaction, even if they were adults and bantering could be considered childish. He tried to think of other possible causes when he heard Sakura try to talk.

"D-did you hear a-about…" The teacher hesitatingly addressed her female student. They waited for her to continue her question but it seemed that the teacher voice was being blocked.

Ryoma, guessing what his teacher had wanted to ask, said "We heard from about the time you two were saying something about us being study partners at school... And everything else that came after that." He said it all so nonchalantly, but his expression looked a tad more curious than he had intended.

Sakura was speechless. If they were listening since that time, then that would mean that they've heard a lot. Sakura didn't know how to react, she felt guilty, angry, scared and disappointed at the same. She stole a look from Sakuno. The young girl was staring back at her with various emotions as well.

Sakura wanted to reach out and touch her, embrace her, hold her tightly. The young woman wanted to explain herself, to tell her sister everything and apologize for it, too. But her voice, much to her chagrin, was still missing.

It took her so much energy just to lift up her hand to Sakuno, but the young girl, with eyes wide, took a step back, back until she was slowly picking up her pace, turning around to exit the whole scene. The timid girl left everyone inside the Echizen household stunned.

Sakura's hand fell limply back into her side. Her head was downcast, bangs covering her eyes, not letting anyone see her expression.

"Chibisuke… go after Sakuno. Calm her down…" Ryoga lightly ordered, breaking the silence that enveloped them for a few seconds.

Nodding in affirmation, the tennis prince hastily left, slamming the door on his way out. He hoped that the girl hadn't gotten too far.

He looked in all directions before managing to spot a familiar pair of braids disappearing into a corner. Not wanting to waste anymore time and risk losing her, Ryoma dashed to his left, trying to catch up to Sakuno.

Ryoga and Sakura were left. The boy was staring at the closed door, the girl unmoving.

"Don't worry," Ryoga comforted her with a smile, "Chibisuke's sure to find her."

"… You don't understand…" Sakura meekly said, not even bothering to look up. "…She wasn't supposed to know yet…not right now… She probably hates me for not telling her earlier… She just had to catch it at a bad time… learning about it in such a way…I wasn't even able to properly speak to her, not directly to her face as what I've been planning over and over. She just heard it… when we were arguing. Just how was she supposed to react to that? Maybe I deserve this… How can I face her now?"

Finally, she looked up, turning to face Ryoga. "How?" she asked again. "I… I don't know what to do… I can't… I don't want to face her anymore…"

"If you're going to be like that, ranting and rambling all by yourself, then you really won't be able to face Sakuno properly. You're confused and so is Sakuno. Calm down… Chibisuke will be able to handle her." Ryoga said in a calming voice.

"But even Echizen doesn't know that I'm Sakuno's sister. Just how is he going to help? What does he know about siblings never having a chance to interact after all these years then suddenly meeting again in the least favorable way?" Sakura couldn't help biting back. She flinched when she realized that the boy was only trying to calm her down, she didn't have to talk back to him that way. "… Sorry."

Ryoga gave her an understanding smile "You're anxious right now. And you're probably not thinking straight. You should really stop berating yourself… And to answer your question… First of all, that brat really cares about people no matter how apathetic he might look. He has his own way of showing it.. Secondly… you may not know it, but Ryoma does know that feeling. Heck, he even experienced it first hand!"

Sakuno looked at Ryoga in surprise. In return the boy gave her a rueful grin.

"To make it simple, when we were young, I ran away. Chibisuke forgot about me as the years passed. And when he was about 12, we met. He didn't really recognize me at first, and he only remembered when he heard my whole name… took him quite a while to recollect, too. Anyway, we met at this cruise ship where I was the captain of it's tennis team. His friends were invited to be our opponents. But you see, my team played in games that were fixed. The matches were betted on, and they had to lose or else their lives would be at stake." Ryoga looked like he was blankly staring at the wall, but Sakura knew that he was trying to think about what happened. To her surprise, when he faced her again, he was smiling.

"In the end, we did have a battle… A fair one. The brat won, got over the whole incident… and well, here we are. Here I am, back at their house, trying to catch up on the times that we've lost. If he got over it, then I'm sure Sakuno will be just as fine. We should just trust Ryoma."

Sakura nodded obediently.

"So, how about we sit down so you can compose yourself and maybe tell me what happened? It might make you feel better… and the tea wouldn't feel too neglected." He laughed and offered her a seat as Sakura took a cup of tea and began explaining to Ryoga her side of the story.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Sakuno didn't know where she was heading. She just wanted to get away, forget all that she heard. Maybe if she ran long enough, she'll get tired and eventually fall asleep. And when she wakes up, everything will go back to normal. What happened was just some silly little dream that she had.

But somehow… no matter how tired she is right now, her mind wouldn't overlook what occurred a while ago at the Echizen household.

Even in her current state, legs weak and breathing ragged, her mind refused to break down, just when she wanted it to happen…Her mind kept insisting that what took place was genuine, and she knew it in herself that it was true. What she heard from Sakura was probably the truth… what her teacher – no- what her _sister_ said was real.

Sakuno didn't know what came over her when she took off so suddenly. She knew it was rude, undignified… but she didn't care. She wanted to leave. So she did.

Her mind was full of questions but none of them coherent enough. All that she knew was that she suddenly didn't want to be with everyone else at that time when Sakura reached out to her.

Shaking her head vehemently, she hastened her steps even more, not minding the pain and exhaustion taking over her body.

"Ryuzaki!" A voice, sounding almost as exhausted as she was, called out.

"Ryuzaki!" Sakuno felt a strong hand grip her arm, forbidding her to move. And at that moment of rest, all the running that she did finally caught up to her. She felt dizzy, her chest suddenly seemed constricted and her knees gave way… Her blood felt like it was rushing away from her head. She felt drained of all her energy, and sleeping suddenly sounded like such a good idea…

"Ryuzaki!" The voice called out again… she could hear the origin of the voice saying some other things but her mind refused to comprehend any of it. And she was too tired to do anything, anyway.

XxXxXxXxXxX

It took a while, but Ryoma was finally able to catch up to Sakuno. If it wasn't for all that training that he did, he would have lost her. She did have quite a far lead before Ryoma managed to spot her turning around a corner.

Sakuno gave quite a chase, turning randomly and entering an alley unexpectedly. That was why they had gone some distance before Ryoma managed to grab her at last.

He kept calling out to her, but Sakuno paid no heed and kept running, her pace slowing down only for a few seconds before speeding up again.

"Ryuzaki!" Ryoma shouted out while grabbing her arm. He must've latched on too tight because she lurched forward at the sudden halt.

Both of them were panting heavily, Sakuno placing her hands on her lap to steady herself, Ryoma still holding on tightly to the girl. He was easily regaining his strength, but Sakuno seemed to have a hard time retrieving herself because after a few seconds, the girl fainted.

"Ryuzaki!" Ryoma shouted out of surprise. Luckily, he was able to catch her before she completely fell down.

"…she fainted…" Ryoma 'tsked' before looking around to see if there were any benches where he could place Sakuno. He was surprised to see that they were in a park. That meant that they had run a few kilometers away from his home. No wonder Sakuno was really worn out.

Finally settling the timid girl in one of the nearby benches, he gave himself some time to relax as well. He got tired from running, too. It wasn't as taxing as the training and laps he did during tennis practice, but it was enough to make him want to rest for a while.

After a few moments, Ryoma saw Sakuno's eyelids flutter. Yes, he was staring at her, but it wasn't _that_ long. Just a few seconds… minutes… okay, fine, the whole time they were resting. It wasn't his fault that Sakuno looked really helpless at her current state and he was just being… nice… by looking out for any signs of discomfort. And what better way to see if she wasn't feeling good by staring at her face? Exactly. No one else was around, so he felt it as his duty to look out for the girl. Yup, he was being nice.

Anyway, her eyelids began to open.

"H-huh?" She asked. Her face still looked blank, meaning she wasn't yet fully aware of her situation. She blinked a few more times. Then she focused her gaze at the person beside her. Realizing who the person was, a pink hue began to spread on her cheeks.

"Ryoma-kun! What are you… what are we doing here?" she queried when she noticed that they were at a park, sitting on a bench.

"Hn… Shouldn't I be the one to ask you that?" He said, finally taking his eyes off of her face.

"Huh? What?" She titled her head to one side, looking all innocent. She tried to remember what happened. '_Oh, that's right… I ran away from Sakura-sensei… I mean, my __**big sister**__Sakura._' She frowned a bit, _'then, all I remember is getting real tired and…fainting?'_

"I-I fainted?!" Sakuno gasped, her hands covering her mouth.

"Bingo." Ryoma said.

Sakuno was still gaping when another thought flew to her head, "T-then, how did I end up sitting here?"

"I carried you." He answered in a tone that said 'What other reason could there have been?'

She promptly blushed. "O-oh! Thank you Ryoma-kun. I'm sorry to have caused you trouble." She apologized, looking towards her hands that were now folded on her lap.

"It's nothing." He said as he got up. Sakuno saw him go towards a near-by vending machine, returning with a can of Ponta and a bottle of water. "Here."

Sakuno accepted the bottle of water with a shy 'thank-you'.

They sat there, drinking their beverages in silence. It was surprisingly Ryoma who has spoken first.

"Are you alright?"

Sakuno stared at him, a bit surprised at the sudden question by the normally quiet boy. "U-uh…Yes, I'm fine, thank you."

"Hn…" he drank from his Ponta before talking again. "…Why did you go?"

Ryoma noticed that Sakuno was looking really unsure.

"I-I… don't know, to tell you the truth." She said after some time. "…When we overheard Ryoga-san and Sakura… 'sensei' talking about the sibling thing… I froze. T-things suddenly came to my mind, but at the same time I didn't know what to think nor feel. A-and then, when she reached out to me, the first thing that became apparent was that I wanted to leave, and fast. So I ran, and ran… and ran…"

Ryoma listened quietly to Sakuno.

"I felt really tired running, but I couldn't stop… My mind wouldn't let me, so my body followed. When I was running, I asked the same question you asked me… 'Why did I go?', 'Why did I ran away? Was there something that I wanted to escape from?'…But… but nothing came to me, except for the fact that I wanted to get away from everything and maybe even forget what I just heard. I kept wishing that all of this was just some dream, and none of it were true… But I don't know why I felt that way. I knew it was unreasonable, I should just stop… go back… But I kept going; I didn't even know where I was heading."

Sakuno looked as if she was surprised about her own actions, and only thought of it just now.

"Maybe I was just afraid of the truth… I didn't want to believe that Sakura-sensei was my sister. It felt so unreal. My whole life I always thought that I had no parents, no siblings. Just my grandmother... Then just this morning I suddenly hear someone saying that she's my sister!..."

She seemed as if she was just talking to herself, mumbling most of the time. She sounded hurt and shocked.

"…though, come to think of it… I think I remember dreaming about this girl a bit older than me. I only had it a few times. The first scenes were about us together then the next would always be about the time when my parents died. Grandma was holding me in her arms but I was reaching out to the girl. She kept shouting my name and calling me 'Chibisaku' and 'sister' saying that she'll come back for me… I'm not sure if that's connected to my old memories. But since I never really did recall ever having a sister, I thought of that as just some dream that I had… The first time I dreamt about that was during the first day of school, the day that we also met Sakura-sensei. Though it could be just some coincidence…"

She looked really confused.

"…If I really had a sister… Sakura-sensei… would she be that girl? B-but all this time. If she already knew for a long time, then why didn't she just tell me? I mean, we're really close right now, right? Why go through all the trouble of hiding the fact that we're sisters?! How could she have managed to keep that to herself the whole time we've seen each other?..."

She had other barrages of questions, one after the other, as if finally being able to release them.

"Instead of asking me or yourself those questions, you should ask Sakura-sensei." Ryoma finally said.

Sakuno faced him, agony noticeable on her face. "I-I don't know… I don't think I can face her right now."

"Maybe that's how Sakura-sensei has been feeling, too." He told her.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, preparing himself to explain. "When she finally saw you, assuming that she only got to see you during the first day of class after such a long period of not being together, she felt that she wasn't ready to tell you…. What would you do if an unknown person tells you that she's your sister?"

Sakuno thought about it, "I would be scared, shocked… unbelieving."

"How do you think sensei was feeling?… Especially when she doesn't know how you'll react." He asked

"If I was sensei, I would be scared, too. I'd want to somehow start things over… get close with my sister and let her be used to my presence…" Sakuno recounted what had been happening in the time that they spent with Sakura.

"Maybe something happened when you got separated, too." Ryoma added.

"I'm not really sure… Grandma never told me about Sakura-sensei. And I was really young when my parents died. It's been about thirteen years since then."

Ryoma gave a low whistle, "Thirteen years, huh? Took her quite a long time to find you… she's mada mada dane."

"Do you think that's why Sakura-sensei didn't want to approach me at first? Because she's afraid that I would get angry at her because it took her such a long time to find me?" Sakuno asked worriedly. "Did something bad happen to her? Maybe she's guilty of something else."

"…Maybe. You should just ask her." Ryoma suggested. "She must have been waiting for you to remember her."

Now Sakuno looked really sad and worried. "I wasn't able to remember her… There was a time when sensei told me about her sister that doesn't even recall her… She was talking about me the whole time. Maybe Sakura-sensei was missing me so much… I wouldn't want to be a source of worry for her… She looked so sad when she told me about her sister… about me… But she looked really happy when I told her that I would be happy to be her sister."

Sakuno smiled as she remembered the time when Sakura was helping her get dressed for the '(not a) date'.

They were quiet for a while. Sakuno could hear Ryoma's breathing… then Sakuno blushed. Just now she was able to realize that she had been talking to Ryoma so openly about herself. She wasn't stuttering so much and that she was chatting without restraint, and the boy was replying, too. He helped her understand the situation… she was very thankful that Ryoma was here today.

She was about to say thank you when Ryoma interrupted her, a bored look present on his face.

"You wanna go back yet? It's getting dark already." Ryoma said, reaching out his hand to help Sakuno get up.

"Okay… And thank you." Sakuno accepted his hand and stood, finally looking happy and relieved. She was a bit excited now to meet her sister, get reacquainted, and maybe get some answers, too. It was nice to be able to talk freely to someone, and it was also nice to hear someone console you and help you feel better.

"Hn."

As they walked towards the path back to Ryoma's house, Sakuno was smiling. She's looking forward to being with Sakura, her sister… just the thought that she had a sibling that was as nice as Sakura easily made her smile…

But maybe that smile was also due to the fact that Ryoma was the one who helped her feel excited and happy about having sister. Maybe it was also because the boy used some of his precious time to make her feel better about the situation and just plainly be there for her.

Yes, maybe that was also a reason… then again… maybe it's also because Ryoma's hands were now intertwined with hers.

XxXxXxXxX

"So you fought even when the ship was breaking down?!" Sakura asked incredulously. "You didn't even think of stopping when a massive wave hit the deck?... tennis freaks…" Sakura mumbled the last sentence to herself.

Ryoga chuckled. Then he heard the door open. He and Sakura turned to look at each other before focusing their gazes towards the opening door. It was Ryoma and Sakuno.

"Yo, Chibisuke! You're back!" Ryoga greeted, "Something interesting happen?" He asked as he trailed his eyes towards their linked hands.

Noticing what Ryoga was staring at; the younger two immediately separated and blushed.

"Shut up." Ryoma said as he took off his shoes and approached the living room with Sakuno meekly trailing after him.

There they were. Ryoma and Sakuno seated in one couch, Ryoga seated in a recliner opposite Sakura. None of the girls were looking up, they had their heads bent and their hands were primly placed on their laps.

The boys sighed. Ryoma nodded to his brother, the silent gesture telling him to do _something_ to get things going. It wasn't that he minded the silence, but he knew how awkward the situation must be for the two women right now, so a little conversation could be had.

"So…" Ryoga began. "You're sisters… yeah…and, um…" he trailed off, not knowing what to do or say right now. He didn't know how to make females reconcile and talk to each other. Weren't they the talkative gender? Putting himself in their position wouldn't help because, if he was in their situation… Well, he wouldn't even be getting to this point. He would have told Ryoma straight out that he was his brother, let him remember, play tennis, make him forget about what happened in the past, make peace and whatever and then play some more tennis… Which what was actually what he did back then during the tennis match at the cruise ship.

Okay, think… If he was some emotional female, how would he resolve this?

It seemed that he didn't have to think up of a plan, because Sakura took it upon her initiative to talk.

"Sakuno-chan, are you alright? Did you run too far away? You must be tired… Echizen, did you take good care of her?" Sakura inquired.

"Oh, I'm all right, Sakura-sensei." Sakuno immediately replied. She somehow winced when she saw the older Ryuzaki deepen her frown. Sakuno was used to calling Sakura 'sensei' and felt guilty that her teacher might have taken the honorific as the young girl's way of saying that she hasn't accepted Sakura as her sister.

Sakura gave a poignant smile, "I'm glad to hear that Ryuzaki-chan…"

Sakuno was really guilty now. She didn't want to see her big sister sad just because she stupidly forgot and addressed the older woman as what she usually did before this whole ordeal. And now, Sakura was back to calling her by her last name!

"I-it's okay for you to call me Sakuno… didn't I tell you that when you were helping me the last time… Sakura-nee-san (sister)?" Sakuno said, adding the big sister honorific as an after thought. "…Or maybe you would like it better if you called me by that nickname you gave me… Chibisaku."

Sakura's face brightened considerably upon hearing those words from Sakuno. "Y-you remember now that I was the one who gave you that nickname?"

"Vaguely…" Sakuno admitted.

Sakura hesitatingly stood up and approached Sakuno. When she was near enough, she drew the girl into a hug. "Chibisaku… I missed you…"

"I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, big sister." Sakuno said, hugging her sister back.

Sakura shook her head. "No… You wouldn't be able to distinguish me as your big sister that easily because you were so young when we were separated." She hugged the girl tighter, "What's important is that you know now."

"Yes." All that Sakuno could do was agree.

"Aawww… What a nice sister bonding moment!" Ryoga gushed out. He approached Ryoma and slung an arm around the younger boy's shoulder. "Chibisuke, why didn't we have that kind of hugging when we saw each other?!" He wrapped his other arm around Ryoma in a lazy hug and letting his weight rest on the younger boy.

"Ugh, get off me! You're heavy!" Ryoma tried to push off Ryoga.

Ryoga reluctantly let go. "That's not cute Ryoma…" he sighed in mock forlorn, "Oh, just where did my cute brother go?!"

Everyone watched him, and after a few seconds they all laughed, well the two ladies giggled while Ryoma smirked.

When the laughter died down, Sakuno directed her attention towards the two Echizens. "Thank you so much, Ryoga-san, Ryoma-kun... and I'm sorry to have bothered you and wasted your time with our predicament." She stood up and turned to Sakuno. "We should be going now, Sakuno-chan. You still have school tomorrow. Echizen-kun, I will be expecting you at class tomorrow seeing as you are fit enough to have ran quite a distance. Also, do not forget to do your homework."

"Hn. Fine." Ryoma said, a bit begrudged that the teacher remembered about the assignments that he needed to do.

Ryoga stood up, too. "Will you two be going to the same house?"

"No, I am staying at my own apartment. I will be dropping Sakuno-chan off at our grandmother's house." Sakura said.

"Two ladies walking alone at night aren't safe…" Ryoga grinned. Sakuno quirked an eyebrow, but soon got the gist of what Ryoga was trying to say.

"I see, I see… Will one of you be kind enough to escort us home then… Echizen-kun?" Sakura titled her head towards the younger Echizen's direction.

Ryoma thought over the idea. He was about to decline, using the reason that he was tired and he was supposedly still sick (he was just lazy), but Ryoga beat him to answering.

"It will be faster if both of us escorted you girls home… Maybe Chibisuke could come with Sakuno-chan? What do you think sensei?" Ryoga grinned mischievously.

"That's true, Ryoga-san. It would be much faster if we split up. It might get too late if you stopped by both of our houses. It would be so much easier, indeed." Sakura was beginning to grin as well.

Ryoma just had to sweat-drop at the somehow pre-arranged dialogue of Sakura and Ryoga. But seeing as they were being persistent, and he felt that he no longer had a say about the matter, he reluctantly agreed. "Fine. Whatever."

"Great! Chibisuke, go with Sakuno!" Ryoga grabbed the boy and pushed him towards the door.

"Wonderful, thank you, Ryoma-kun! Now, let's go Sakuno-chan!" Sakura gently maneuvered the girl to the door, too. "Ryoma-kun, you know where Sakuno's house is, right?"

"Yeah." Ryoma said as he put on his shoes.

Outside the yard, the two groups had to part ways.

"My house is this way." Sakura told them.

"Are you sure Sakura-nee-san?" Sakuno asked. She still remembered what happened this morning when they got lost trying to locate Echizen's house.

"Uhm…. I think so… Yes, yes… I'm sure this would be the way." Sakura said, her face full of determination.

"Okay, good night then Sakura-neesan, Ryoga-san. Take care! Thank you again, Ryoga-san!" Sakuno waved.

"Bye Sakuno-chan! Chibisuke, don't do anything to her okay?!" Ryoga shouted out.

"Echizen-kun, I will be expecting my sister to be well and unharmed tomorrow! Good night Sakuno-chan! Thank you as well, Echizen-kun." Sakura waved at her students.

Sakuno and Ryoma blushed, the boy muttering something about stupid big brothers and teachers/sisters.

Ryoma tugged on his cap (that he only got to wear now) before taking Sakuno's hand, leading her. "Let's go."

"O-oh! Okay." Sakuno blushed. They seemed to be holding hands more frequently now, not that she minded, of course.

Really, today wasn't so bad, Sakuno thought. Sure, she embarrassed herself by running away, but she learned that Sakura is actually her sister… and now, she got to spend so much time with her Ryoma-kun. It might just be her, but she's really feeling that they are getting closer… even if it may just be as close friends for Ryoma. For her, just being around him is enough.

"Ryuzaki. You're slowing down." Ryoma said as he tugged her hand.

"Sorry, Ryoma-kun!" She apologized as she tried to pick up her speed and to go along with his pace.

… Yes, today really isn't bad. Not bad at all.

XxXxXxXxXxX

It was early in the morning, but the Seigaku tennis team regulars were already present in their clubroom. Well, at least almost everyone was present. As usual, Echizen Ryoma was… wait – he wasn't late yet. Everyone was just early. Really.

Besides, for once, the tennis team wasn't talking about tennis. Which sounds really weird, but they weren't. Instead, they were forced to gather inside the clubroom by a very nosy big sister of one of their juniors. That nosy big sister also being their teacher for at least one of their subjects, meaning defying her could result to some nasty effect on their grades.

"You kids aren't forced to listen to me just because you're afraid that I'll drop you're grades if you don't, do you?" Sakura asked. Disbelief etched on her face. She was seated in one of the chairs near the coach's table.

The regulars wanted to say yes. But they respected the teacher too much to tell her that. And who knows what she'll do if they did.

"You are, aren't you?" Sakura narrowed her eyes, looking at them closely.

They looked sheepish and guilty. They shifted in their seats, in their silence the metal benches' screech was deafening…

"Don't worry. I wouldn't be able to do that. That would be against the teacher's code of ethics. However, if you do agree in helping me, I am willing to give you extra credit." Sakura explained. "So, how about it?"

The regulars exchanged looks. Oishi was the first to speak.

"Um… Sakura-sensei, not to be disrespectful or anything, but I don't really think that it would be a good idea for us to continue prying in your sister's and Echizen's… um, private lives…" he got a few agreeing nods from the group.

Sakura thought about what her student said, and she completely understood that. She didn't know how else to convince them, but she really needed the help from other people close to her Sakuno-chan, and according to her grandmother, these people were some of her closest friends. "Are you sure none of you are willing to help me?"

"Sensei, would you mind telling us first why you are so intent in getting Sakuno-chan and Echizen together?" Fuji asked, smile in place.

"Because it would make not only my sister but probably even Echizen-kun happier." Sakura answered in a tone that said she was very confident of her reasons. "I want to be able to see my sister truly smile and glow. If being with Echizen-kun would help bring that out, then I would do all that I can to see it through."

Fuji was grinning as he said, "Hmm, that's good enough for me… And besides, setting Echizen up on dates sounds really fun."

"Yosh! I'll help too sensei!" Momo said, pumping his fist in the air, "Maybe that brat would have more respect for his seniors if he had a girlfriend!"

"Nya, I wanna help, too! Ochibi and Sakuno-chan belong together!" Kikumaru said as he began jumping in his seat, waving one hand in the air. "And Ochibi should be able to experience treating someone for once and not always freeloading on his seniors!"

"There is an 87 percent chance that Momoshiro and Kikumaru agreed to help because they need to increase their grade point average." Inui commented, receiving protests from the two mentioned. His face was still buried beneath his notebook as he was writing something on it. "…Having data on Echizen's love-life would prove to be valuable to my research; therefore I will also partake in this experiment."

"Thank you very much!" Sakura said, happily clasping her hands together.

"Oishi…" Eiji looked expectantly at Oishi, waiting for the vice-captain's decision.

"I'm sorry Eiji, Sakura-sensei. I think I have intruded enough before." He apologetically said to Sakura.

"It's alright Oishi-kun. Though, I am still very thankful for your last assistance." She gave a grateful smile. "How about you Kaidoh-kun, Tezuka-kun?"

"Fssshhhh," Kaidoh had a tiny bit of blush on his face, "Sorry sensei…"

"No need to ask for forgiveness, I understand." Sakura, as well as the other regulars, turned their attention to their captain. Though they already suspected what his decision would be.

"I'm very sorry, sensei, but that matter is already past my duties as Echizen's captain. I am reluctant to say that I have to decline your request." Tezuka stated in the most polite yet stern manner.

Sakura nodded. "I see. Still, I am thankful, Tezuka-kun that you are allowing me to… 'borrow' your teammates… Do you have anything else to remind them?"

"Do not get careless." He said unflinchingly. "And practice begins in ten minutes. Regulars begin warm-up by running five laps around the court. Oishi and Inui will give you further instructions for today's training menu."

"Yes, sir!" Everyone chorused. Sakura couldn't help but smile at the captain's personality.

"Thank you again everyone! I'll leave all of you now so you can practice. To those who volunteered, Fuji-kun, Inui-kun, Eiji-kun and Momoshiro-kun, could you please meet me at the teacher's lounge whenever you're ready after your afternoon tennis practice?"

"Okay, sensei." The volunteers replied.

"Bye now! Have fun at practice!"

As Sakura was heading towards the gates leading outside the courts, she happened to run into Echizen. He was calmly walking and was yawning a bit.

"Good morning Echizen-kun. I see you are well enough to come to school today." Sakura gave Echizen a semi-suspicious looking smile.

"Hn, Good Morning." Echizen merely tugged his cap as gesture of greeting the teacher, he didn't like how the older woman's smile looked suggestive of something.

"How was your walk with my Chibisaku last night? Anything –special– happen?" She asked, smile not wavering.

'_Her Chibisaku? Huh? Oh… right. I almost forgot… Ryuzaki's her sister.'_ Ryoma thought. Keeping a straight face, he said "Nothing special, _Ryuzaki-_sensei."

Sakura blinked at Ryoma's use of her surname, almost forgetting for a moment that he also knew that Sakuno was her sibling. "Okay, then. Echizen-kun, you better make haste, you wouldn't want to be late for practice… See you later at class."

Ryoma nodded before passing Sakura. He entered seeing that everyone was already prepared and was about to start laps around the court.

"Yo, Echizen! Hurry up and change!" Momoshiro greeted the freshman regular. "You're just on time. A minute more and you would've been late, then you'd have to run extra laps."

"Momoshiro, Echizen! Run three extra laps for loitering and not preparing for practicing." Came Tezuka's order.

"Ugh, spoken to soon. This is your fault Echizen!" Momo blamed Ryoma.

"Mada mada dane, senpai. You're the one who talked to me." Ryoma said as he jogged to the locker room to change.

"Brat." Momo murmured before commencing to run.

XxXxXxXxXxX

"We shall now begin this meeting of the 'Get Sakuno and Ryoma Together Squad'!" Sakura announced while holding up a sign that had the said group name written on it.

Those involved face faulted, but could not bring it upon their selves to laugh out loud due to the serious look sported by the teacher. Everyone present was seated in the chairs littered around the teacher's lounging area. Sakura was standing behind her table flashing the sign proudly.

"First – Attendance. Say something after being called, please." Sakura now held up a clipboard in one hand, a pen in the other. "Fuji Syuusuke?"

"Hai."

"Kikumaru Eiji?"

"Nya!"

"Inui Sadaharu?"

"Present."

"Momoshiro Takeshi?"

"Yo!"

"Osakada Tomoka?"

"Here!"

"Ryuzaki Sumire?"

"Here."

"Echizen Ryoga?"

"Yeah."

"Great! Everyone's present." Sakura flipped over to a new sheet on the clipboard. "I would like to thank you all for using your time to help out, especially grandmother Sumire and Ryoga-san."

The two mentioned smiled as if saying that 'it was nothing'.

"You all know why you are here right?" Everyone nodded. "Good, but for the sake of clarity, I shall explain again. We are now gathered here in an attempt to get Sakuno and Ryoma together, which should have been apparent right now, given the name of our group. All of you present are especially chosen because you have connections that could prove to be very helpful in this endeavor. You may also be an important source or comrade in executing plans, seeing that you personally know the people in question and would know what would be the best course of action to take in handling them. All of this is for what we believe would lead to the happiness of Sakuno-chan and Echizen-kun. Now, let us commence in planning! Any suggestions?"

She was answered by silence as everyone seemed to be deep in thought of a plan.

"Maybe we should analyze the situation first." Sumire spoke, "We need to know what the current situation of Echizen and Sakuno is… Inui what do you have?"

Being their former coach, Sumire was pretty much sure that Inui would have already taken into account that bit of information. And she was right.

"According to my data, compared to last year, their degree of familiarity has increased by 76 percent. Physical contact in the form of hand holding was recorded to have been done by at least four times just this couple of months. Echizen has also been stated to have been more responsive to Ryuzaki by 82 percent. It has also been noted that Echizen's sense of protectiveness of Ryuzaki, especially after the pervert incident, had increased by 79 percent." After reading his report, Inui raised his head to see gaping faces.

"Wow… Inui is really good at taking data, nya…" Kikumaru commented.

"Wait! Wait! Inui-kun, when did that pervert incident occur?! How come I've never heard of that?!" Sakura almost screamed at Inui. She was already standing up with her hands covering her mouth in mid-gasp.

"Oh, that was after they went grocery shopping the first time we decided to 'follow' them. It was after we left." Inui stated calmly.  
"If you guys already left, then how did Inui-sempai know that?" Momo asked.

Inui's glasses seemed to have glinted as he said in a monotone voice, "I have my ways."

The others suppressed the urge to shudder, except for Fuji who was looking completely relaxed.

Ryoga coughed to get their attention.

"Yes, Ryoga-san, do you have anything to say?" Sakura acknowledged.

"Yeah… Inui, you said that Chibisuke has become more protective of Sakuno-chan right?" he started.

"Yes, by about 79 percent.." Inui confirmed.

"Yeah, yeah. Then that would mean, Chibisuke would easily get jealous if another person would get too close to Sakuno-chan, right?"

"Right… And?" the other simultaneously said.

"And, we need Chibisuke to completely realize his feeling for Sakuno-chan, right? For that to happen, jealousy can become one of our best buddies. If the brat gets really jealous he'll want to be able to be beside the girl and then he'll notice how important she is… You know, stuff like that." Ryoga explained, which earned a collective 'Aahhh' from the group.

"Good idea, Ryoga-san. Who should we ask?" Sakura surveyed the room for any ideas.

"Would any of the other tennis regulars work?" Sumire suggested.

"Saa that could work, Sumire. Eiji, Momo and I could provide our assistance." Fuji said.

"Don't call me 'Sumire' Fuji." Sumire scolded.

"Yes, ma'am." He answered with a grin. "But we wouldn't be able to constantly be around Sakuno-chan, so we might need another person."

"Sakura-sensei, how about Chihiro-chan?" Tomoka raised her hand upon talking, "You could dress up again during breaks. I think I saw Ryoma-sama glaring at her during those times that she was with us."

"Tsubasa Chihiro, that special student we met that one time?!" Momoshiro exclaimed, remembering the times that he saw the girl having lunch with the other freshmen. "What does she have to do with this?"

"… Momoshiro-kun… You're not serious are you?" Sakura asked the second year, raising one of her eyebrows.

"Nya, yeah Momo-chan… Even I could tell that Tsubasa-chan _is_ Sakura-sensei." Kikumaru said, the others nodded, too, except for the two non-students. Even Sakura was aware of the fact that people had been able to guess that she and the student were the same… All that she needed to fool with the costume was Sakuno, and so far the girl never showed any signs of telling them apart, so it didn't really matter if other people found out as long as they never told Sakuno.

"What?! You knew Eiji-sempai?! B-but the last time that I asked, you guys said that she wasn't!" Momo wailed.

"Saa, we were just playing along with Sakura-sensei. When I first saw Tsubasa-chan, I immediately knew she was Sakura-sensei in disguise." Fuji smiled serenely. "There must've been a reason for her to wear a student's uniform, so it would be such a waste if we would have spilled her secret, don't you think so?"

"I knew from the beginning, as well. From the few encounters that I had with Tsubasa-san, I had compared her physical attributes to that of Sakura-sensei and upon inspection they were completely the same, even most of her habits and gestures." Inui noted, notebook in hand as usual. Sakura couldn't help but feeling a bit apprehensive of the data-man's ways of knowing people.

"At first, I thought they were really different because she was really persuasive. But after spending a lot of time with her, I noticed that it really was Sakura-sensei, though I didn't really know why sensei had to do that… She only told me everything today." Tomoka added. Sakura had to ask for her help since she was Sakuno's best friend. Along with asking for her cooperation, Sakura had to tell the girl that she was Sakuno's sibling and tell her about almost everything. After the explanation, the girl was more than happy to help.

"Eehhh! You guys already knew and you didn't tell me?!" Momo gaped at his companions. He was a bit peeved that he was left out. He completely trusted and believed their words when they said that Tsubasa and Sakura were two different persons.

"Nya, we thought you already knew!" Kikumaru flinched when he saw his kohai's dejected expression. To lighten the mood, he glomped the boy, "Don't be sad, don't be sad, nya!"

"That's right Momo-chan-senpai! You're not the only one who still doesn't know. Sakuno, Horio and the others weren't able to see that they were the same person." Tomoka tried to help placate the second year.

The two visitors just stared at the group, not being able to fully understand the commotion, they intelligently decided that it did not concern them, anyway.

"Well, I'm not sure about Echizen-kun. He might already know, too…" Sakura contemplated. "What do you think?"

"Does it matter if Chibisuke would know who this Tsubasa kid is?" Ryoga asked.

"A bit. If he knew that I was Tsubasa then he wouldn't be as jealous if she were a totally different person. He might just shrug it off as me trying to get close to Sakuno because I'm her sister." Sakura explained.

"If I didn't notice then Echizen wouldn't either!" Momo declared. He was more than willing to have other people share his naivety about the whole disguise ordeal.

"But Momo-chan-senpai, Ryoma-sama can be pretty observant if he chooses to!" Tomoka decided that she should defend her prince.

"When it comes to tennis, that brat can be very attentive but Tsubasa-chan isn't something that is tennis related." Momo countered, smirk on his face and arms folded on his chest. Yes, he definitely would not allow it that he was the only one who didn't know.

"Saa, why don't we ask Inui?" Fuji tilted his head towards Inui, whose eyeglasses seemed to have glinted again.

"There are only a few occasions that I have managed to observe the interaction between Echizen and Tsubasa-san, and given those samples I can only say that there is a 58 percent chance that Echizen would know about it." reported Inui.

"Given that proportion, we aren't really sure…" Sakura mused, "But I wouldn't mind taking the risk. It's not _that_ big of a deal anyway… Except female companionship isn't probably enough, we might also need a male rival for Echizen-kun. That would make things even more… difficult for him, I guess."

"How about Ryoga-san, nya?" Kikumaru suggested.

"Nah, Chibisuke might have already noticed how I always try to get them together. Doing that will only contradict with my past actions and arouse his suspicion." Ryoga stated as he but his hands behind his head and casually rested his back on the sofa. "We'll need some other guys…"

They began brainstorming.

"How about Katsuo-kun?"

"No…"

"Kachirou-kun?"

"Nu-uh…"

"Horio-kun?"

"No way!"

"(cough)"

"I-I mean… No…"

"Tooyama Kintarou-kun?"

"Who?"

"Saa, he is that other freshman that Echizen got to play with during the Nationals at his first year in Junior high school."

"But doesn't he live at Osaka?"

"Yeah, he lives too far away."

"Aoi-kun?

"Aoi Kentarou. First year student at Rokkaku Chuu located at Chiba."

"Also too far…"

"Nya, does it have to be a freshman?"

"I guess not..."

"Akaya?"

"Come now! Are you serious?!"

"Why grandma? What so bad about… Akaya-kun was it?"

"That brat's a demon!"

"Really? Then no way!"

"Oh… yeah… How about Kamio Akira? He's also here in Tokyo."

"But isn't that Rhythm-freak –"

"Momoshiro-kun, it's bad to call people names."

"Sorry, sensei… I mean 'Kamio' obviously likes Ann-chan…"

"Nya, your Ann-chan?"

"Out of the topic Kikimaru-sempai!"

"(snicker)"

"How about that Hyotei kid?"

"Hiyoshi Wakashi?"

"The gekokyujou kid?"

"No… the nicer one."

"Ootori Chotarou. Second year, serve and volley specialist, blood type O. "

"Yeah! That one!"

"Saa, I don't think it's a good idea to use a school such as Hyotei, or any other school for that matter. It might be best to have someone here in Seigaku."

"Hmm. How about that Gary kid I've heard about recently?"

"Which one?"

"The first year, the transferee from Europe."

"Oh! Gray Stu! I know him!"

"Stu-kun… may be too much for Chibisaku…"

"Nya… this is hard...!"

"I agree, I agree…"

"And this has already taken too long. Maybe we should just skip this idea?"

"Yeah…"

"All who agree, please raise your hand"

Everyone raised their hands. Sakura nodded in understanding.

"Okay then… Moving on. We can begin project 'Jealous Tactics' tomorrow, starting with the regulars at morning practice. Any ideas?" she asked, pen and paper still ready.

"Hmm, we could let Echizen overhear our conversations and such. Eiji and Momo would come in very handy." Said Fuji while giving off a smile that scream 'Conspiracy'.

"Okay, Fuji-kun I will assign you as leader for that specific undertaking. Inui-kun you shall record any reactions from Echizen-kun during those moments and if possible any other possible occasion that you deem important and provided you have the free time to do so."

"Ii-data…" Inui gave off a smile that showed how pleased he was with his assignment.

"During lunch breaks, Osakada-chan and I will begin our move." Sakura glanced at Tomoka's direction. Somehow 'signaling' to the girl that it was during their lunch hour that she will dress-up again as Tsubasa Chihiro and start phase two of 'Project: Jealous Tactics'.

"All right, Sakura-sensei!" Tomoka said while raising one hand in the air.

"Grandmother, any advice or additional inputs?"

"Hmm, I can make Sakuno forget to bring her lunch box, so you could cook for her." Sumire said thoughtfully.

"But grandma, I'm not any good at cooking…" Sakura pouted. "I can only do desserts, which I'm also planning on using. During those times that I would bring desserts and feed Chibisaku, I think I saw Echizen-kun glaring at me, so it might work again. But I really can't cook meals…"

"Ooh! I got an idea!" Ryoga suddenly brightened up. He was waving both hands in the air, like an eager student waiting to be called by his teacher.

"What is it Ryoga-san?" Sakura acknowledged.

"What if someone brings a bento for Sakuno-chan? We could say that that came from some secret admirer!" Ryoga said while putting his index finger and thumb on his chin. He was now mentally praising his self for such a bright idea.

"But shouldn't it be girls who make the food for guys?" Momo pointed out.

"So? It could work!" Ryoga said defiantly.

"Fine, we'll try that. Who can volunteer to make the food and have it delivered?" Sakura asked the group.

"I would like to volunteer. And to make it more special, I will use my special Inui lunch recipe. Guaranteed 100 percent tasty and nutritious, especially if drank with my Inui supreme golden juice, 3.2!" Inui pushed his glasses up with his index finger, while emitting a sort of evil-scientist aura. He also had this eerie-looking smile…

"Eh-heh… Osakada-chan, maybe it would be less obvious if we said that a guy passed the lunch to you, when if fact it was really you who made the food?" Sakura looked pleadingly towards Tomoka. She remembered the effects that Inui's concoctions had done to her students, and she doesn't want her sister to experience that any time soon, not if she could help it.

"U-uh, Okay Sakura-sensei. I will make the food and bring it at lunch time!" Tomoka hurriedly said, immediately understanding the teacher's predicament. After all, she is Sakuno's best friend. It is also her duty to look out for the timid girl.

"Thank you for your offer Inui-kun, but I think it will be better if Osakada-chan would make the food, since she would also know what Chibisaku likes." Sakura tried to look like she was sad that she had to pass on the job to another, but inwardly she was thankful that she had managed to evade the proposal.

"All right. Such a shame… I even have a sample of it now." Inui he took out a bento. When he opened the lid, everyone (except Fuji) cringed to see green and blue smoke coming out from the food.

"Saa, can I have a taste, Inui?" Fuji smiled at Inui. He graciously took the bento and proceeded to take a few bites. The others could only be mesmerized as bit by bit, Fuji consumed at least half of the food without any reaction to it whatsoever aside from enjoying it. "Mmm, it tastes good." He and Inui exchanged smiles.

The others shuddered and twitched.

"O-okay… Everyone, that would be all for today's meeting. I will have you contacted for future ones. Thank you again for participating! I am I debt to all of you!" Sakura stood up and gave a low bow to everyone in the room.

The others replied that it was nothing. Soon everyone made their way outside, they were eager to get home.

"Grandmother, are you sure you'll be fine going back home all by yourself?" Sakura asked as she walked along with Sumire towards the school gates.

"Yes, I'll be fine Sakura. Go on now, the way towards your house is the other direction, right?" Sumire shooed her granddaughter away playfully.

"Take care, grandma! Thank you, again!" Sakura waved at her grandmother's retreating figure.

"You know what?" A voice that suddenly spoke surprised Sakura. She turned her head only to see Ryoga smirking at her.

"Oh, Ryoga-san. What is it?" Sakura asked while titling her head.

"I wasn't sure before but now…" Ryoga paused to add tension.

"Yes?" Sakura urged him to continue.

"I feel that…" Ryoga looked directly at Sakura.

"You feel that?" Sakura stared back.

"… You really are a nosy big sister." Ryoga finished with a smirk.

Sakura looked away with a 'hmph' and pouting slightly.

"So are you." She said after a while.

"Took you long enough to answer." Ryoga countered.

"Whatever." Sakura stopped when they came towards an intersection. "My house is this way. Thank you for your help Ryoga-san. Good night." She gave another bow and without waiting for the other's answer she went along her way, leaving the other waving behind his back as he, too, continued his journey home.

Now alone, Sakura could no longer suppress the smile she had been holding back ever since the meeting.

'_I'm so happy… I hope Chibisaku appreciates what we're trying to do! And now that Chibisaku knows we're sisters, it's even better. I don't have to hide it from her anymore! Tomorrow is going to be so fun!'_

Sakura couldn't help but giggle as she decided what dessert she should make and fix all the things needed for project 'Jealous Tactics' tomorrow.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Sorry it took such a long time before I got this out --' I think my grammatical and writing skills are being mean to me this month… I just can't seem to write nicely (as if the previous ones were good enough to begin with XP)

Anywho, I hope you still do like this chapter. Whether you liked it or not, you can tell me in a review! -nod nod- I'd love to receive some -grins-.

**Advertisement:** Guys, would any of you like to become my second beta? I need that beta to check this whole fic (I Found You) for any grammatical errors or any other possible changes that s/he deems fit. I already have the plot planned out, so I can't really change much from the past chapters. But I think it really needs to be cleaned of any grammar mistakes and such. If you're interested please PM me or tell me in a review! Thank you so much! (Oh, and after that beta finishes the old chapters, I'll need that same beta to proofread the future ones too XD)


	12. Jealous Tactics

Gelly: Sorry for taking so much time before updating… I just had to finish finals before continuing anything. XD… And reading fanfiction was _way _too distracting, ahaha.

**Warning: **This chapter is sorta done in Ryoma's POV. Insults using the word 'stupid'.

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own the Prince of Tennis.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

**Jealous Tactics**

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Ryoma woke up with a weird feeling in his stomach.

Not only was it weird… it was also furry.

Oh. Wait. That was just Karupin.

He picked up the feline that was settled on his bare stomach and placed it on the floor.

After fondly petting the cat, Ryoma gave Karupin his daily ration of cat food.

But instead of toddling directly to his bowl, like what he usually did, Karupin, instead, rolled a few times then exited his master's room.

The action baffled Ryoma. '_Weird,'_ The boy immediately thought. Nonetheless, he shrugged it off as some kind of phase his kitty was going through.

But when he reached the dining room, something even weirder occurred.

His dad wasn't 'reading'! He was… _cooking_…. And helping him was… _Ryoga_.

Ryoma would've gaped at the scene. He was thinking of asking what was going on, maybe even checking if there was any poison in the food, but Nanako interrupted him.

"Ryoma-kun, you're schoolmate, Momoshiro-kun, is already waiting for you outside," She said.

Ryoma checked his watch. It was still early, so why was Momo-senpai already here?

'_Really_,' he thought, '_something weird is definitely happening today_.'

He grabbed some toasted bread and his bento (that his father and brother _cooked_. It looked like there was a lot of it, too.) before bidding goodbye to his family.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

During morning tennis practice, Ryoma decided that the occurrences at his house were definitely a bad omen.

Why?

Because something really odd is happening… right now.

"Ochibi!!" came Ryoma's usual warning before a suffocating glomp greeted him. "Good morning!"

Yes, he knows that Kikumaru's morning hugs weren't an unusual occurrence. No, that wasn't the thing that set the alarm bells off for Ryoma.

It was…

"Oi, Eiji-senpai isn't that Sakuno-chan?" Momo pointed out.

"Oooh! That's right, Momo-chan! It's cute little Sakuno-chan!" Kikumaru piped in. Suddenly, a cheesy smile took over their faces.

"Eiji-senpai, you think Sakuno-chan is really cute, too?!" Momo exclaimed, acting a bit surprised.

Kikumaru had let go of Ryoma and was now huddled a bit closer towards Momo. They moved a little farther away from their junior, but were still close enough for the young boy to overhear them.

"Nya, Sakuno-chan had always been cute! She just happened to be cuter every time we see her again." Kikumaru started, "Oi, oi, and do you know… I think a lot of guys are beginning to notice that, too."

"Ooh?! Really, Eiji-senpai?!"

Kikumaru nodded, "Yup, yup! I heard that even some of _my_ classmates have their eyes on Sakuno-chan. They said that she's growing into a pretty little lady."

"Even third years?! Well, who can blame them? Sakuno-chan has grown a lot these past few years, even if she did retain a bit of her shyness."

"Nya, but it is her innocence that makes guys fall for her, too! And she's also very nice and sweet. Who wouldn't want that for a girlfriend?"

"Now that you've said it… She's also a great cook!"

"Nya, Momo, you're always thinking about food!"

"But it's true Eiji-senpai! Sakuno-chan's cooking is delicious! If I wasn't dating Ann-chan, I would've definitely asked Sakuno-chan out!" Momo proudly stated. A few seconds later, his eyes grew wide at his little slip-of-the-tongue.

"Oi, oi! Momo-chan! You're not telling your senpai something!" Kikumaru-senpai grinned.

Momo waved his arms in front of face, "I, uh, I… That's not the point, Eiji-senpai!"

Ryoma watched the scene before him with a nonchalant air. But he couldn't help but wonder when his seniors had suddenly taken an interest in Ryuzaki. Granted, they always did take notice of her since she had been around their team for quite some time. But they never talked about her like the way they did today.

What bothered him more was that Sakuno wasn't even at the vicinity when they began their discussion. He couldn't help thinking that there had been too many tennis balls that had gotten contact with his senpais' heads.

"I didn't know Sakuno-chan was that popular."

Ryoma was almost startled. How long had Fuji been standing there, watching with him?

"I've been standing here since Eiji greeted you, Ryoma." Fuji answered, his omnipresent smile not wavering.

Wait, did Fuji just read his mind?

"You've seemed to let your guard down, Ryoma. You didn't even notice me… And your face is very readable, do you know that?" Fuji titled his head to the side.

The freshman chose not to answer. There were cases where it was best to not reply to the tensai, and he was sure that this was one of those cases.

Fuji turned to watch the quarrelling duo before talking again, "What about you, Ryoma? Do you think Sakuno-chan is cute?"

Ryoma was taken aback by the question. He wondered what was going on inside the tensai's head. What made him suddenly ask that question? What was his senpai trying to say? What should he answer?

Ryoma pondered about the question. It was just a simple inquiry about his perception about a person's outer appearance. Looking at it that way, what did he think about Ryuzaki?

Well, truthfully speaking, he wasn't one to take notice of his surroundings that willingly, Ryoma argued. He wasn't one to appraise them critically, either. Though he had noticed some of her nicer attributes before.

"Ryuzaki… doesn't look bad." He hesitatingly replied. Fuji looked at him, amused by the freshman's safe answer.

"Is that all, Ryoma?" It seemed that Fuji was not satisfied with his answer. His senior gave a smile that looked as if he was encouraging Ryoma to think of something less generic than 'She doesn't look bad'. "Haven't you ever noticed how innocently cute Sakuno-chan is? It's been two years since I've last met her, but when I saw her again this year, I've noticed that she's still retained her innocence..."

Ryoma raised an eyebrow at the smiling tensai. Was Fuji implying something? It sure looked like his senior was trying to say something with that smile of his, Ryoma thought.

"She kept her long braids, and her hair was something that I've always admired about her... that, and her childish eyes that always seemed to glow. And, like how she was when we were still in middle school, she would blush a lovely shade of pink whenever we would talk to her… I've always thought that she was cute when she blushed. The pink hue settles nicely on her pale skin, and it accentuates her brown eyes, auburn hair, pink lips… She just looks so shy and demure that it makes you want to…"

Ever since Fuji started describing Ryuuzaki, Ryoma felt that he'd gotten a totally different perspective of the girl. He listened to every detail that Fuji mentioned and tried to imagine it in his head. It wasn't long before he thought that his senpai had had a point and he knew that he couldn't doubt his senpai's taste. He had to admit that he agrees with his senpai.

Fuji leaned towards Ryoma so that his mouth reached the freshman's ear. When he was close enough, he finally whispered, "…kiss her."

Those last words that Fuji uttered made his face feel hot. It was as if the heat was creeping towards his head… more specifically, towards his cheeks.

He couldn't tell if Fuji could see that his face was burning up and just chose to ignore it or whether it was just all in his head, because his senpai returned to the proximity that they had a while ago and continued on with what he was saying as if he saw nothing. "Even if she did retain some of her old features, I can't help but notice how she had developed, too. She's taller, her voice had changed and her face matured, even if just slightly. She's also more refined and lady-like now, albeit still clumsy… but, I have to admit, she's cute that way, too… and finally, her body had grown nicely... I wonder…"

Most of what Fuji said was already mentioned earlier by Momo and Kikumaru, but there was something about the way that Fuji had said all of those that made Ryoma a bit more conscious, along with another feeling that he couldn't describe… He remembered having felt this same 'feeling' the first time Ryoga and Ryuzaki met during their walk to school.

"I wonder what it will be like to have her as a girlfriend." Fuji tapped his finger on his chin. He looked like he was pondering over his own question quite deeply. "She's pretty, nice, polite, knows how to play tennis, and cooks well… She could be anyone's ideal girl. Hm, maybe Eiji and Momo did have a point with what they've been saying."

The feeling inside of him was getting more intense. The idea of other guys having the same train of thought as the one Fuji was having made an uncomfortable feeling stir up inside Ryoma. He was caught up in his own thoughts that he could only hear bits and pieces of what Fuji was saying.

"…It'd be pretty nice to have that sweet smile of hers directed only at you…"

Sakuno's smile… It would be pleasant to know that such a smile was solely for your own viewing.

"…What would make it even more special is that you know that you're the only one who could make her smile that beautifully…"

Ryoma smiled. It would be pleasant, too, to be the cause of someone's happiness, especially if that someone is a person that you really l–

"…She would be someone that you can easily like, even love..."

_Yeah… _It was like Fuji took the words right off of his mouth.

"…But, a girl like Sakuno-chan can be with any guy that she chooses, because she can. There would be a lot to choose from, too, I suppose…"

But that girl would be too dense to notice any of them… Right? Ryoma tried to convince himself that that was the case. He can't really imagine Sakuno going out with guys. She wasn't that type.

"…Like, I've said, Sakuno-chan has grown. And I'm sure she can have crushes, too. Like the one she used to have with you, Ryoma…"

Ryoma did have a vague recollection of how Sakuno would often trail him when they were younger… So, was he wrong when he assumed that Sakuno wasn't the type to start having relationships? Wait, he was now talking in the past tense. Fuji senpai did, too. Did that mean that Sakuno had gotten over him?... And… when did he start calling Ryuzaki, 'Sakuno'?!

Fuji looked at him with a smile that was hopeful, "Ne, Ryoma, do you think there's someone on Sakuno-chan's heart right now?"

Ryoma stared back, raising his eyebrows. His look conveyed a message that was to be interpreted as 'How would I know?'

"You're one of her close friends right now, right? Have you…" Fuji seemed to hesitate. An action that made Ryoma put up his guard. It was not often – in fact it was rare– that the tensai would be uncertain of anything. Ryoma couldn't help but widen his eyes a bit as Fuji stared (with as much of a stare that one can pull off without opening his eyes) at him, with a hesitant expression that matched his tone a while ago. "Have you noticed other guys that may have approached Sakuno-chan? You know, other guys that might be making moves towards her?"

He stared at his senpai with a dumbfounded expression. Ryoma had never seen Fuji like this before… Was Sa– _Ryuzaki _the reason behind Fuji's atypical behavior? More importantly, was Fuji being serious, or was this simply one his plans? This interest… was it just some part of a joke that Fuji was trying to pull on him? That expression… It was expectant and hopeful.

Fuji continued with his questions, probably thinking that he was being unclear, "Well, I have been following up on Sakuno-chan for quite some time now, to tell you the truth…"

First Fuji tells him all those stuff about Sakuno's appearance, then he asks him about other people cluing him in that there were others that thought about her the same way… that they were out there… around Ryuzaki, and that there was nothing the he, Ryoma, could do about it.

Now, Fuji's telling Ryoma that he's been following Ryuzaki?

Ryoma didn't know what to think.

"And, even if there were some encounters that looked as if they were confessing to her," Ryoma reflexively gulped, "I don't think there'd been any boy that had shown her his true intentions. So I'm a bit confident that she's still free…"

Ryoma felt himself loosen up considerably.

"…For now." Fuji added. Ryoma tensed. "…Maybe _I_ could start now, while the competition is still reluctant to move, that way, I can catch Sakuno-chan unguarded, and…"

The feeling came back, more intense that the previous ones. The thought of Fuji considering his standing with Sakuno in _that_ way gave Ryoma this effect. And Fuji mentioned that he wasn't the only one with the same intention… there could be more. Ryoma felt protective of Ryuzaki, in a way. He didn't want her to 'belong' to any of those guys, not even his Fuji-senpai. No. They better not do anything to Sakuno. They better not go near her… He should do something about this, and fast…

"Echizen, Fuji, Momoshiro, Kikumaru!" Tezuka's voice bellowed out, cutting Ryoma off of his internal turmoil for a moment. "What are you doing there fooling around? Fifteen laps around the court for not practicing!"

Eiji and Momo groaned. Fuji frowned, but quickly replaced it with a smile. Ryoma… he didn't know what to feel… So instead, he chose to follow the order and ran.

In his confusion, he failed to notice a scribbling Inui at the background.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Since the morning encounter with Fuji, Ryoma felt the urge to study his surroundings, for once. He tried to understand and interpret the students' actions involving a certain Ryuuzaki Sakuno. He wasn't sure if he was just being paranoid but he grew wary of every single person that stood too close to her.

Every time a hand wound its way to Ryuzaki, Ryoma felt the urge to push the hand away, not caring if it belonged to a boy or a girl. But seeing as he held no right to choose who could go near her, he settled for staying near her side and sending warning glances.

It wasn't easier during class hours. Sakura-sensei's classes, which was one of the few classes where they constantly worked in pairs, seemed to make sure that they never worked together, totally contradicting her past actions that seemed to make them get so close. It was if the teacher was trying his patience by constantly partnering Ryuzaki with other male students during their class activities, ignoring the fact that they were the ones who were supposedly working together since they were study partners.

Still, even with what had happened, Ryoma felt that the morning passed by without anything major to worry about.

Lunch break was a different story, though.

"Hey, guys!" Ryoma eyed the 'intruder', the special student, Tsubasa Chihiro. Out of all of the people that he had met, she was, by far, the most suspicious person of all. There was just something fishy about her. And she acted way too close to Ryuzaki for his liking.

Everyone greeted her in the same happy manner, everyone, except for him. He watched her go straight to Ryuzaki's side.

It was normal for them to see the student during their lunch hours, just as it was normal for them to see her make her way towards Sakuno and give the timid girl a hug. Ryoma never did like those hugs.

"Chibisaku? Where's your lunch box?" Tsubasa pointed out. It peeved Ryoma that she was still clinging to Ryuzaki.

"Grandmother said that she'd make me one this morning, but when I woke up, she said that she forgot. I didn't have enough time to cook or prepare anything because I woke up late, so I had to go to school without bringing any food." Ryuzaki looked like she was about to cry.

Ryoma thought that maybe he could share some of his food with her– it was quite a coincidence that his father and brother made him extra, and it didn't taste bad at all, and so far, he's still alive.

He was about to offer her some but Osakada came running to their group. Ryoma didn't notice the she was missing before… so that's why everything seemed more quiet than usual, not that Horio didn't make enough noise as it is, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, Ryoma noticed that she was carrying two lunch boxes. Oh. That's probably for Ryuuzaki. Ryoma felt a bit disappointed.

"Sakuno-chan! You don't have your lunch?" Osakada asked Ryuzaki, who shook her head. "Really? Great! Then this won't go to waste!" Osakada handed her best friend the other bento that she was holding. Ryoma was right about his guess. That means that his 'effort' to give Ryuzaki a share of his own lunch had been wasted. Somehow that made Ryoma feel a bit irritated.

"Thank you, Tomo-chan!" Ryuzaki gratefully accepted the container.

"Wow, Ryuzaki is lucky! Just when we thought that she wouldn't have anything to eat, Osakada comes and gives her something!" Kachiro commented.

"Oh, that didn't come from me!" Osakada hurriedly corrected.

"Really, Tomo-chan? Then who gave my Chibisaku handmade lunch?" Tsubasa asked after seeing the insides of the container. The food looked good.

Wait…did Tsubasa just say '_my_ Chibisaku' again? It really miffed Ryoma hearing that possessive pronoun being used by that Tsubasa-girl for Ryuzaki.

He glared at Tsubasa; making sure that he did it long enough for her to feel that someone was staring at her.

When their eyes met, Tsubasa _smirked_. That was supposedly _Ryoma's_ action! That girl had no right to do that, especially since she just received one of his death-glares!

They engaged in another staring match, but were interrupted when they heard Osakada give an excited squeal.

"I'm glad you asked, Chihiro-chan. Sakuno-chan, you'll never guess!"Osakada said, grinning widely while standing in front of Ryuzaki. "That bento is from one of your admirers!!"

A collective "EHH?!" was heard from their group. All of them wore surprised expressions.

"B-but, I thought girls were the ones who gave bentos to guys that they like? Not the other way around…" Katsuo pointed out.

"Don't be silly, Katsuo-kun! Nowadays, it doesn't matter who gives what! The point is, a guy likes Sakuno-chan so much that he makes her a hand-made lunch! Kya! You're _so _lucky, Sakuno-chan! I'm so jealous!!" Osakada eyed the bento.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Chibisaku?! Take a bite! It's looks pretty tasty." Tsubasa said.

Ryuzaki nodded before taking her chopsticks and carefully picked up an omelet roll. All of them seemed to watch her chew and swallow, anticipating her reaction. When she noticed how all eyes were on her, she blushed before saying, "I-it's good…"

Before anyone can blink, the whole group (sans Ryuzaki) simultaneously took a piece of Ryuzaki's lunch.

"Ehh! Chibisaku, not only is it good, it's delicious!! Of course, the food that you cook is _way_ better, but considering that this was made by a guy, it's actually really, really good!" Tsubasa eagerly said.

"That's true, not even with my five-years of tennis and cooking experience can I cook as nice as this!" Horio seconded. Osakada, Katsuo and Kachiro agreed as well.

Ryoma had to agree that it tasted good, but it wasn't really that special. Just because it was made by a guy and he gave it to Ryuzaki doesn't make it taste better any better than other foods.

He scowled.

Stupid guy, whoever he is, giving Ryuzaki delicious hand-made bento. Stupid bento, getting delivered by that noisy Osakada, and just when Ryoma was about to offer Ryuzaki a share of his lunch. Stupid classmates of his, liking the stupid lunch. Stupid Tsubasa, feeding Ryuzaki right now, and acting all close and friendly… okay she wasn't actually stupid, but that wasn't the point. Stupid Fuji-senpai (who also wasn't really stupid, but, again, that's not the point), telling Ryoma how a lot of guys really liked Ryuzaki, making him all worried about her getting to close to any person, and now that Ryoma saw how Fuji-senpai was actually telling the truth, Ryoma was agitated. Stupid old hag (Ryuzaki-sensei), forgetting to make Ryuzaki's lunch. Stupid Ryuzaki, not noticing how annoyed he is that she isn't paying him as much attention as she used to. Stupid Ryoga and old man… because they were simply stupid… stupid, stupid, stupid.

Ryoma was already beginning to insult the rocks and the ants, when he noticed that his schoolmates were eyeing him weirdly.

"Echizen-kun, why are you glaring at an ant?" Stupid Tsubasa smirked… _smirked! _She seemed to be doing that a lot today.

Ryoma didn't like her smirk, so he glared at her, too, not bothering to retort verbally.

"Ne, you've tasted Chibisaku's lunch, right? So, how does it taste? It's delicious, right?!" Tsubasa grinned… It was more of a leer, in Ryoma's opinion.

He took a short pause to think of a smart reply.

"It was mada mada dane." He flatly said. Mentally, Ryoma was proud of his comment. He always liked how that phrase was always handy.

Tsubasa kept grinning, as if saying that Ryoma wasn't telling everything that was in his mind. "Your lunch today looks like there're more than usual."

"My idiot father and brother made too much." He replied, and then took another bite.

"Hmm, I see. Then why didn't you offer Chibisaku anything a while ago?" Tsubasa hit a spot. Ryoma stopped mid-bite. "Then again, why would you have to offer Chibisaku anything, anyway…? It's not like you're her boyfriend or something like that." Another direct hit.

She turned to Ryuzaki, "You know, Chibisaku, you should really try to find out who gave you that nice lunch. Hey, come to think of it, I think I remember meeting this student, and he was asking about you, Chibisaku…"

Tsubasa stared at Osakada, who spoke after the eye contact. "Huh… oh… Oh! I wonder if that was the same person that asked me about what Sakuno's favorite foods are. I think he was a second year." Everything Fuji-senpai had been blabbing about that morning seemed to be all true. Ryoma wanted to kill Fuji-senpai… that second year, too, if Ryoma could just know his name.

"A second year? I don't think we're talking about the same person, Tomoka-chan. I'm pretty sure that the boy who asked me was a first year," Tsubasa said. Great, another person to add to Ryoma's death list.

"Wait! I think there was also a first year that asked me about what Sakuno-chan likes… Tall, brown hair, nice smile, he looked athletic, too." Osakada described another potential victim.

"I think I met him, too… he was wearing this cute necklace during the times that I saw him… But he wasn't the guy I was talking about earlier. He had black hair." Tsubasa said casually. Those two are really getting on Ryoma's nerves, talking so calmly about things like that.

"A necklace? I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if he was wearing one, but he wasn't." Osakada shook her head.

Tsubasa shrugged. "Anyway, whoever gave you that bento, Chibisaku, you should totally thank him… Maybe with a date?" Sakuno's face was wearing the color red. Ryoma couldn't tell if it was already that color since the two other girls had began talking about her possible suitors or whether it had just turned that specific shade from something lighter upon hearing the suggestion.

"C-chi-chan!" Finally, the meek girl spoke.

"What?! It's only normal that you repay the guy, whoever he is… I'm sure he'll be cute and nice, great boyfriend material!! If you ask me–"

"No one asked for your opinion." Ryoma said off-handedly. He had enough of the conversation. He cleaned up his place and stood. That last comment of Tsubasa was the third hit… And Ryoma was out.

If he spared a minute to check out the reactions of his friends, he would've seen the victorious smirk of Tsubasa Chihiro.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He had been in a bad mood the whole afternoon.

Even during after-school tennis practice, Ryoma wasn't performing at his best. Luckily, Tezuka-buchou had probably been in a better mood that him, seeing as he didn't give that much laps, even when Ryoma 'unintentionally' almost hit Fuji, Momo and Kikumaru more than thrice with speeding tennis balls.

Those three had been pestering him as much that afternoon as they did during the morning, and that did not help the boy at all in calming down. All he knew was that this _feeling_ kept coming back, each time stronger than before. And they came after every comment about Ryuzaki. It usually strikes the strongest when people touched the subject of Ryuzaki's boyfriend… or lack of it, and how such circumstances gave the opportunity for every other boy to make a move on her.

Stupid, stupid… Stupid… Ryoma stopped.

'_Great.'_ He thought forlornly.

He didn't even know who or what to blame, insult and curse anymore.

Ryoma continued walking towards his classroom to retrieve some books that he forgot. As he approached his table, he saw Sakuno's chair. Not that he could avoid it, anyway. They were seatmates after all.

He stared at their place. Even if he was her study partner and seatmate, it wasn't enough to avoid having other people (particularly, the male population) get too friendly with her.

_Ugh_… It's that feeling again, Ryoma noticed. He should really do something about that feeling.

Ah, wait, there you go, something else to insult… Stupid feeling.

Why did he have to experience whatever that was? What could he do to make it go away? Why did it have to hurt so much?

He continued to ask himself questions on his way outside the building, passing by other rooms… the science laboratories, classrooms, faculty rooms… Ryoma could hear some voices coming out from the teachers' lounge.

"Okay, after hearing Inui-kun's reports, we can conclude that today's plan, Jealous Tactics, was a success! Good job everyone!"

Ryoma stood frozen just outside the door of the room. He recognized that voice. It was Sakura-sensei's.

"Everything worked out perfectly! I couldn't believe it!" Wait. Ryoma recognized that voice, too… Ryoga?

"By the way, that was convenient of you to make that extra helping of Echizen-kun's lunch, Ryoga-san." So, Ryoma was right. It was Ryoga! But what was his brother doing here? And what was that about making extra food for his lunch?

"That was nothing. Grandma, here, is to thank for 'forgetting' to make Sakuno-chan's lunch!"

"Now, now, I was just following the plan. Ahahaha!" Grandma?… did Ryoga mean the old hag? Sure sounded like it.

"Sakura-sensei and Osakada performed satisfactorily that lunch period as well. My analysis shows that your conversation proved to initiate reactions from Echizen that was highly favorable for us." Ryoma was sure that was Inui… no one else could sound so creepy even when giving compliments.

"Tomoka-chan was great at improvising and acting! She easily caught what I was hinting at. And the food that you cooked was really delicious."

"Thank you sensei! I was lucky that Sakuno-chan didn't recognize my cooking!" Osakada… the loud girl… She was the one who made the bento?!

"But I think what started it all was Fuji-kun. What have you been saying to Echizen-kun that made him so wary all of a sudden?"

"Things that I was sure that would make him think. Anyway, it was nothing for me, sensei. I had fun tormenting Ryoma-chan." That was definitely Fuji… Ryoma shivered.

"Oi, oi! We helped, too, nya! Right, Momo-chan?!"

"That's right, that's right!" Momo and Kikumaru?

"Haha, that's true. You did well, too, Momoshiro-kun, Kikumaru-kun!" Ryoma could hear something that was like two people giving each other high-fives.

"By now, I'm sure that Echizen-kun is jealous, and his actions after our little 'plan' showed that pretty clearly."

Jealous… was that the'feeling' that he had been having? Maybe it was… but why? Why did he feel jealous?

"Surely by now Chibisuke's already noticed that he really does like Sakuno-chan, right?"

"He should… He couldn't be that dense right?"

'_I… like… Ryuzaki?_' Ryoma never actually came to that conclusion before… But now that he thought about it, he couldn't find it in him disagree with the notion.

He liked, maybe even loved, Ryuzaki. Was that why he felt jealous every time he thought another guy liked her, too, and possibly take her away from him.

Sakura-sensei, Ryuzaki-sensei, Ryoga, Inui-senpai, Fuji-senpai, Kikumaru-senpai, Momo-chan-senpai and Osakada… In one way or another, all of them have been part of a plan that caused Ryoma's irritation and anger. The talks that he had with Fuji, the abnormal conversations between Momo and Kikumaru,

the commotion during lunch break. They were in it together… Just to help him realize what he truly felt about Ryuzaki.

Because they were so nosy, all of them, Ryoma finally understood.

He should be happy… and he had to admit, he is. He felt relieved, too, that most of the stuff that they had been telling him about other guys trying to court Ryuzaki may not be all true… At least he hopes they're not true.

Anyway, he should be thankful…

"Should we stop now, sensei?"

"No! We can't stop until we see them get together!"

"Okay!!"

Those idiots! Sure, Ryoma knew that he owed them something. But, honestly, can't they leave him alone?!

He felt like marching up there once and for all, just so that all this nonsense would cease.

But he stopped himself. There was a better way.

He thought of a plan of his own… He smirked. There was someone that he would need to contact later.

Revenge is going to be sweet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gelly: Done!! Phew! Haha, sorry for the over-kill of the word 'stupid'. XD

How about dropping a review? It would be very lovely, thank you very much. (smiles)


	13. Near Confessions

Gelly: Hey, look! It's finally the next chapter!! o Thought I was dead, didn't ya? Anywho, I hope this little chapter is up to your liking, or at least it matches up to your expectations.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Prince of Tennis.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Near Confessions

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Inui met Sakura-sensei after their early morning tennis practice, he reported that Ryoma looked different.

"Hm? Different? How?" Sakura-sensei asked.

He became even more wary of his teammates, Inui answered, specifically, he added, when it came to Momoshiro, Kikumaru and Fuji. It was expected, he said, as the other day, they were the most frequent people who talked about Sakuno. And when the trio tried bringing up the subject again, Ryoma became more or less violent towards his interaction with the group.

It was valuable data that Echizen's serve increased by 60 percent when provoked. Too bad that it always ended up off courts. Then again, it was also a good training for Kikumaru, Momo and Fuji who constantly had to evade the shots. Inui computed that their speed, coordination and reflex had increased by 20 percent.

Inui also reported that he tried performing tests to check Ryoma's 'emotional' status.

"What kind of tests did you give, Inui-kun?" Sakura asked.

"First, sensei, I would act as if Ryuzaki was in the perimeter, calling out her name. As computed, Echizen would turn to the direction assumed to be where she was located, his face considerably brightening up…" Inui said.

"… But wouldn't that make Echizen-kun angry when he sees that Chibisaku wasn't there?" Sakura tilted her head to one side.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I was awarded with one of his glares," Inui adjusted his glasses. "Another test was actually inviting Ryuzaki into the courts, under the pretense of making her help with the morning training, approved by Tezuka and the coach, of course. We also got permission from the girl's tennis team captain and coach."

"Ooh, you got Chibisaku to help…" Sakura nodded. "…How did you make Tezuka-kun agree to this?"

"I explained to him the morning's training regimen, indicating various reasons for having the need of assistance from another student in implementing the procedures. After a few minutes of detailed justifications of the matter, he succumbed to the fact that it was needed for training."

"So, in other words… he got tired of your long explanations, and even though he knew that this was just another one of our schemes, he understood that we would be relentless about it and it would be better if he just gave in rather than exhaust himself because he knows that we know that in the end he would give in anyway?" Sakura said in one breath, which was quite a feat.

Inui adjusted his glasses again. "More or less," He answered.

Sakura nodded again. "Okay… What happened then?"

"At first, Echizen looked unfazed…"

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Ah, Ryuzaki, thank you for helping out." Inui greeted the girl.

"I-it was nothing, Inui-senpai…" Sakuno bowed once she appeared before the data player.

"Inui, shall we begin practice?" Oishi asked to which Inui nodded in confirmation. "Okay then," The vice-captain jogged over to Tezuka to tell the captain that they were now set to start. The captain immediately ordered all the members to line up.

Once everyone was in their respective lines, Tezuka gave way for Oishi to make any other announcements. After having said what was needed, the members were once again separated into different courts to finally begin the actual practice. The freshmen were to practice their swings, the sophomores and third years were to do speed-tests, and the regulars were assigned a court to start their own sets of warm-ups.

At first Echizen was too absorbed in stretching, but soon, he finally took notice of the girl standing beside Inui.

"…Ryuzaki?" He said, blinking a few times.

He wasn't the only one who noticed the girl.

Kikumaru and Momoshiro stared at each other while sporting wide grins. Then they simultaneously greeted their cute junior with exaggerated happiness. They also made sure that Echizen was more than aware of the girl.

"To help out with today's training menu, we have Ryuzaki Sakuno, which I'm sure all of you are familiar with." Inui said.

Ryuzaki bowed to the group. More happy greetings were heard.

At Tezuka's order, the morning practice began.

Even though he was part of the regulars, Inui still had the task to keep track of the training sessions. He took his time in recording the needed data, both for the tennis team and the group started by Sakura-sensei.

"Sakuno-chan," Fuji's sing-song voice could be heard as he called over the girl. "Can you help me while I stretch?"

"Y-yes, Fuji-senpai!" Ryuzaki immediately jogged to where Fuji was. She blushed as she stood behind the tensai, pushing down his back with the right amount of force as Fuji stretched his arms over his feet.

After a few minutes it was Kikumaru's turn to ask for Ryuzaki's assistance. After him was Momoshiro. Inui noted the similar reactions of the girl whenever she made contact with her seniors. But the tense and hesitant actions of the girl were expected anyway.

Trembling, politely answering albeit stuttering, and clumsily giving out her assistance. These observations were commonly executed by Ryuzaki. It was usually present whenever she was around people. Inui knew that. He had already calculated that into the equation.

But what definitely did not match his computations was the treatment she gave to Echizen.

It was subtle. Normal people wouldn't be able to see the difference. But it was there. Inui could not be mistaken.

"Nya, Sakuno-chan, help Ochibi next! Help Ochibi next!" Kikumaru gently pushed the girl towards Echizen.

From Inui's notes, he knew that Ryuzaki would blush, stutter and agree.

"O-okay, K-kikumaru-senpai…" Ryuzaki did as what was predicted, a light pink hue on her cheeks was, of course, present.

She would be a bit hesitant to approach Echizen, Inui predicted. The boy would try to act nonchalant but nonetheless cooperate. He would tug on his cap before taking his starting position-- a steady grip on his racket while slightly squatting, the perfect epitome of a receiving stance, as what would be expected from the boy prodigy- while he waited for Ryuzaki to throw the tennis balls. Ryuzaki would smile at her study partner, obviously happy at the chance to be closer to him. She would be glad to assist, but due to her natural character she would perform a bit poorly, not that Echizen would really mind. A 'lovey-dovey' sort of scene (at least one that would befit Echizen) would occur.

"R-ryoma-kun, I'm going to start now…" Ryuzaki shouted. She stuttered less than she did when she was with Fuji, Kikumaru and Momoshiro.

Inui nearly dropped his notebook. He was, much to his complete surprise, proved wrong. This time, not by the young tennis prodigy (in fact, he was acting accordingly to Inui's calculations), but by the girl that was supposedly infatuated with him.

"Okay." Echizen was ready to receive the serves.

According to Inui's calculation, Ryuzaki would stumble on her first serve due to the nervousness she would have felt about 'playing' against Echizen.

_Twack!_ The ball that Ryuzaki barely managed to serve flew over the net landing on the other side of the court.

Ryuzaki would have to be disoriented and unfocused, that was how she always acted around Echizen. Inui was 99 percent sure.

_Twack_! Since it was a warm-up game, an easy ball was hit, making it returnable for Ryuzaki albeit with difficulty.

Inui was beginning to feel a headache.

The game was one-sided but everyone agreed that it was great how Ryuzaki had managed to return most of the shots (even if everyone knew that Echizen was going easy on her).

A short 'Good Job' followed by a mumbled 'Thanks' was given by Echizen.

This time Inui was sure about Ryuzaki's reaction. She would be too shocked to reply, and after five seconds she would manage an incoherent reply with a huge, ecstatic grin.

The data tennis player almost gave out a relieved sigh when it took a few seconds for Ryuzaki to talk.

"It was nothing, Ryoma-kun." She gave a small smile and a bow. She didn't seem that fazed out.

Inui could not even bring it to himself to say 'Ii data'.

XxXxXxXxX

He had accepted the fact that the data he collects about the matters outside of tennis were not always 100 percent accurate. His miscalculations about Ryuzaki boggled Inui, but he argued that they were only very small. The errors could have been attributed to various extraneous variables that were unaccounted for.

That was the excuse that he gave himself when he didn't inform Sakura-sensei about the actions of her sister and that when he recounted to the teacher the morning's events, it only included the reactions of Echizen.

He also left out that, for today, he will begin observing Ryuzaki instead of Echizen.

XxXxXxXxX

It can't be.

"Okay, Ryoma-kun."

Another miscalculation of 15 percent.

"No, thank you, Ryoma-kun, I don't need you to come with me."

Deviation of 23 percent from the computed value.

"Sakuno-chan! You should totally go ask Ryoma-sama!"

"But I understand the question, Tomo-chan, it's not that difficult so that I'd have to bother Ryoma-kun…"

She was supposed to fully agree to the suggestion no matter how unnecessary it might have been.

"Wah, you cooked this for Ryoma-kun, Ryuzaki?"

"No, Kachiro-kun, I made some for everyone."

Records showed that she used to make special meals only for Echizen.

"Ryoma-kun, can you do this?"

"Can't we just do it later, Ryuzaki?"

"Yeah, we can do it at Echizen's house!"

"But, I think we could finish this right now, Yamada-kun…"

Inui suspected that Ryuzaki would have agreed to a chance to visit Echizen's home. He was wrong.

Inui was not fully wrong about Ryuzaki. Everything else that he computed and predicted about her actions was right at the mark. Everything that is, except when it came to Echizen.

The usual enthusiasm and eagerness when Ryuzaki interacted with Echizen was not completely lost. But not once had Inui's hypothesis been accurate, they always varied, whether it was 1.23 percent or 25 percent. Those values meant that Ryuzaki's interest in Echizen wasn't completely gone.

But that still didn't mean that it was present.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

The next day proved to be quite eventful for the 'Get Ryoma and Sakuno Together' Team.

It was _the_ one move that they have been anticipating since the formation of their group. Maybe even before that.

It was _the_ most crucial step that had to be done for the realization of their objectives.

And no one from their group would be able to accomplish it. It could only be done by one person- it could only be done by _The_ Echizen Ryoma.

"Ryuzaki."

"Yes, Ryoma-kun?"

They were in the middle of one of those free periods during homeroom class. They were given a few minutes to do what they wanted as long as it was done in the confines of their classroom. Those present among the GRST group (which were only Sakura and Tomoka) eagerly watched the interaction between Echizen and Ryuzaki, who were seated together in the middle of the classroom doing nothing. The other students were off to the corners or seated together in a group to one side of the class, but that wasn't important. What mattered right now was that Echizen was taking the initiative. They didn't know for what, but he was doing _something_, so the two ladies of the GRST group were excited.

It took a few seconds for Echizen to utter whatever it was that he wanted to say.

"…This Saturday, Sweet Dreams Café, two o'clock. Be there." He said. It was short and would have sounded like an order, but it was obviously an invitation for a date. _Echizen was 'asking' Ryuzaki out for a date._

Ryuzaki's eyes grew wide. Sakura and Tomoka wanted to jump and squeal, though they opted to just grip each other's hand and kept on watching from the teacher's table where they had a nice view of the couple.

This was it. Echizen's first move, the single most important factor that they all had been waiting for. It finally happened. Everything was sure to go for the better now. Ryuzaki would agree, they would hit it off at the first date, and then have a second, third, and even more dates! The group's objective was going to be realized faster than they had expected, but who cares? _Echizen and Ryuzaki are going to be an item_

"U-um, Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno began. "… I'm not free this Saturday…"

They gawked. Sakura, Tomoka and Echizen had their mouths hanging in disbelief.

Echizen was being rejected by Ryuzaki.

There were just so many things wrong in that sentence.

"…What?" Echizen asked.

Ryuzaki lowered her head. "I can't come… Tomoka and I already have a schedule for that day."

What? What?! _What?!_ Sakura and Tomoka screamed in their minds. Sakura, horrified, looked at the girl beside her. Tomoka, flustered and panicky, kept switching her gaze between Sakura and Ryuzaki. Finally, she decided on something.

Standing up and pounding on the table she shouted out. "Sakuno-chan, whatever it was that we have to this Saturday, it's off. Cancelled! Moved to another day! Okay?! So you're free to do whatever you want!"

"Tomo-chan?" Ryuzaki stared at her best friend, surprised and confused. "B-but, we've been planning on that trip for weeks. And we already have the tickets, the reservations, and everything else ready…"

"So what?!" Tomoka practically screamed (though her classmates were sure that that level of volume was considered louder than a scream). "I'm cancelling it, moving it, whatever!"

"B-but we've already paid for them, and it's impossible to have it rescheduled." Ryuzaki persisted. "It's either we go this Saturday or we wait till next year. I really wanted to go there, too."

"Sakuno-chan, do you understand what you're saying?!" Tomoka was about to pull her pigtails off.

"…Yeah." Echizen finally reacted.

"Of course I do." Ryuzaki said defiantly.

"Sakuno-chan, if you persist on coming with me this Saturday I'll stop being your bestfriend!" Tomoka pointed a finger a Ryuzaki.

"Eh?! Tomo-chan!" Ryuzaki pleaded.

"U-um, Ryoma-kun?" Kachiro tapped at Echizen's shoulder.

"What?" Those who were listening in on the commotion focused their attention on Kachiro.

Kachiro grew a bit embarrassed at the looks that he received, but he continued. "Y-you were talking about this Saturday, right?"

"…Yeah."

"I forgot to tell you, but Tezuka-buchou wanted the regulars to have a whole day tennis practice this weekend. And he said it was mandatory… So…" Kachiro hesitated. "You're not really free this Saturday either." He finished quickly.

It was the second time that day that mouths were left hanging.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Echizen was known for his persistence. He was not the type to give up during tennis matches no matter the circumstances and it seemed that he showed the same determination when pursuing someone.

"Ryuzaki…" Echizen called for her attention during lunch time. It wasn't that loud, but Sakura, Tomoka and Momoshiro had keen hearing. They grinned at each other. 'So, hope wasn't lost yet!' they thought excitedly.

"Y-yes, Ryoma-kun?" Ryuzaki blushed a bit.

"…Next Wednesday after school…" was all that he said. Though for the three listeners, it was understood that that was the next invitation.

"…U-um, are you talking about your tennis practice?" Ryuzaki pointed out. That was true; the tennis teams had practice that time.

Sakura and Tomoka had to restrain Momoshiro from strangling his junior.

"… I meant Thursday, after tennis practice…" Echizen tried again.

Ryuzaki, seeming to be clueless about where this was all going, answered. "What about it Ryoma-kun?"

Echizen was gritting his teeth, his patience was growing thin. "Are you free that time?"

"Oh, yes, I am free." Ryuzaki answered. Sakura, Tomoka and Momoshiro were celebrating in their minds.

"Echizen, I'm free that day, too!" Horio interrupted.

"That's great, Horio-kun. We can do our group project that day. I'll ask our other group mates if they're free, too, Ryoma-kun."

They face palmed. This was going to be a long day.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Gelly: So, that's it for this chapter… oo It ended kinda abruptly, didn't it? It felt shorter, too. (frowns) Anyway, since I stopped it here, instead of the next chapter being the last one, there will have to be two more chapters before this ends. Ugh. I fail… Still… drop me a review? (puppy eyes) It'll make me feel better after failing three of my quizzes in Chemistry and missing one in Biology XP.


	14. On the Topic of Waiting

Gelly: After about two years of not updating, I don't think I have anything else to say other than: Yay, final chapter? :D (Also, you might want to read back on the previous chapter to recall where I last left off? I know_ I_ had to)

Disclaimer: I don't think I even have the right to butcher the series like this. D:

xXx

on the topic of waiting

xXx

When lunch arrived and Echizen had already failed his fifth attempt at asking Ryuzaki out (with the intention of his words and actions obvious to even the densest of humans) no one needed Inui's reports to tell the present Get-Ryoma-and-Sakuno-Together-Squad members that something was wrong between their main targets.

Tsubasa and Osakada, worried about the situation, nodded to each other and subtly hinted at taking a short trip to the bathroom to their lunch group, prompting Ryuzaki (being the kind, loveable friend that she is) to stand up and accompany them as well.

Echizen watched them until they disappeared behind one of the buildings, waited for ten seconds to pass and got up, too, mumbling a quick "Bathroom. Don't touch my food," to the rest of their group as he headed towards the same direction as the trio of girls.

"Chibisaku, look here, Chibisaku. Hey… look at me, Chibisaku," he heard as he rounded the corner he last saw the girls head to. He tried searching for where he was sure was Tsubasa's voice came from, and he found himself hiding behind a shed's wall, sneaking a look and finding what he was looking for. Osakada and Tsubasa were holding Ryuzaki at arms length, faces anxious.

Satisfied, he hid himself again, casually leaning on the wall, still able to hear every bit of their conversation.

"Chibisaku, something's going on. Stop staring at the ground, please, look at me and Tomo-chan. Talk to us."

"It's okay. You can tell us, Sakuno. Did something happen? Something bad?"

He can hear Ryuzaki mumble. "Nothing… nothing's wrong. I'm sorry I got you worried."

"You're still not looking at us. That means you're lying Sakuno, you can't do that. You can't lie to your best friends."

"Did Echizen do something? This has something to do with him, right? You've been avoiding him, we can tell. What idiotic thing did he do this time? Don't worry, Chibisaku, we're on your side!"

Echizen twitched the same time he heard Ryuzaki squeak in indignation, "N-no! He didn't… he didn't do anything."

"Then what, Sakuno?"

"It's just that… Tomo-chan, it's just that, sometimes… I feel like it's hopeless, with Ryoma-kun. And, I've been thinking that maybe… Maybe I should just give up. I don't want to feel like some silly little lovesick girl anymore, Tomo-chan, Chi-chan. I-I should grow up. I should know better now… I should know that it's hopeless."

"Well, yes, Chibisaku, _Echizen_ is quite the hopeless young boy, so horribly dense and all that, but that doesn't mean you should give up! It's not as hopeless as you think! He's getting his wits about, you see."

"That's right, Sakuno! He's finally acting and all your hard work isn't going to waste! Didn't you notice? He was _asking you out_!"

"But…"

"But?"

"But…" Ryuzaki had taken to whispering. "But I decided to give up. I-I've… given up."

"Why? Sakuno-chan! You _can't!_" Osakada half-shrieked.

"What for? Why now? He's _asking you out! _Wasn't that what you wanted, Chibisaku? Didn't you want this?"

Tsubasa and Osakada kept calling out to her, repeating their questions, reinstating the fact that _Echizen is asking her out _now_, just as she suddenly decided to give up—why does she have to give up, anyway?—nothing's making sense, Sakuno, SAKUNO, _Echizen_ is asking you out!_

"But I've given up!" Ryuzaki finally shouted, sounding as exasperated as the other two.

"But you _liked _Echizen. Everyone kept saying how you've been pining for him since middle school, Chibisaku!"

"Chi-chan, that was then," Ryuzaki said in a voice full of so much fervor that Echizen could applaud. "This is now."

"Then what on earth have I done all that for?" Tsubasa had taken to shouting, her voice almost as shrilly as Osakada's. "All that planning! Getting all those people to help me just so that insufferable boy would be your lover! Really, of all people, Chibisaku, of all the people you could have chosen to be infatuated with, you pick a boy with the emotional quotient only slightly higher than a _rock_. If you ask me? Oh, goodness, if you ask me, he. doesn't. deserve. you. You could do so much better! You can find someone who can _see _how much you love him and not take four years to realize it."

He can hear the sound of pacing, of rocks being pushed around and Echizen guessed that Tsubasa had started pacing around while in the middle of her tirade.

"Ah, but that's it, isn't it? You've realized that, yes? I'm proud of you, Chibisaku, you grew up wonderfully, if not a bit late. This I understand now. I'm glad you came to your senses. Honestly! _Appalled _was the perfect word to describe what I felt when grandmother and her band of little tennis boys told me how my darling little sister adored that cocky brat. But what was I to do? I've already made up my mind to do whatever it took just so you would be happy. If that boy was your happiness then I'll twist as many rules as I can, try and find his merits, try and see what you saw. I'm relieved, Chibisaku, very relieved. Yes, yes give up on him!"

For a few seconds, Echizen twitched from his relaxed position. He didn't know what to feel more miffed about, the jabs the hysterical girl made at his apparent lack of feeling or how she easily agreed to Ryuzaki dismissing him as a suitor. He couldn't help smirking, though, hearing her start the self-destruction of her own plan.

After a long awkward silence, Ryuzaki spoke. "…Sakura-neesan?"

Again with the silence. Echizen could guess that 'Sakura-neesan' held a panic-striken face for a moment, before he heard her audible sigh. She probably caught her own mistake by now, too, and Echizen tried holding back a triumphant 'heh'.

"…Yes, it's me."

"And Tomo-chan… you knew?" Sakuno croaked.

"I'm sorry, Sakuno-chan. I wanted to see you happy, too. I mean, you're my best friend."

More silence. Echizen could tell that Ryuzaki was giving them both a betrayed expression even without having to see for himself. He almost felt sorry for the two girls if he didn't think that they deserved it. Revenge really was sweet. "Ryoma-kun was right," Sakuno said in a defeated tone.

Their next reaction was instantaneous. "_What?_"

"Ryoma-sama _knew _what we were trying to do?"

Echizen pulled down his hat. It was all he could do to stop laughing. A "Mada mada dane," served as the only warning for the three girls before he revealed himself with a smirk. Two horrified expressions and one he couldn't exactly read greeted him back. "Sensei, I may have the emotional quotient just slightly higher than a rock, but I'm not deaf. I heard you and your… squad… talking yesterday when I passed by the teacher's lounge. Hard not to hear you guys, actually."

Sakura gasped and quickly grabbed Sakuno's shoulder. "And Echizen told you? Was that all an act, then? The proposal? The denying? The avoidance, the coincidental dates, the interferences? Did you two conspire to pay us back? I, We—It… Chibisaku, I… You…" Sakura, at a loss for words, tightened her grip. She was smart, Echizen knew, and it only made sense for her to completely make out the situation for what it is.

Their plan was ruined and it all boiled down to the fact that she had repeatedly stuck her finger into the wrong jar too many times, and now she had been caught. Echizen felt an accomplishment close to that of winning those two consecutive points to break a tied game with everything was out in the open and revealed to the people that really mattered. His revenge was complete.

"Oh my—oh my goodness, Chibisaku!" Sakura pulled Sakuno closer, leaning down slightly and tilting Sakuno's face so that their eyes met while she frantically gave her apology. "I'm sorry for what we did, truly! Please don't be angry, Chibisaku, please _please _don't hate me. I know I was being nosy, but, but, you understand yes? This was all just a trifling issue, nothing to be bothered about, right? We were all just doing you a favor—wait no! I mean, I love you and—"

Sakuno gently grasped her sister's hands; Echizen was slightly disappointed that she didn't let her suffer longer. "I don't hate you, neesan. I… I understand." Her expression, her smile was what he understood to be what others described as bittersweet. It was not exactly forgiving as it was indulging her sister, passing her previous actions off as something a child did, ironic in their case, but it was enough to make Sakura visibly relax. "I did say that I've grown up now. I've thought about it, so it's all right."

"Thank you, thank you, I love you dear. I promise to leave you and your lovelife alone starting from this moment! With the occasional sisterly advice, of course, but I'll leave the matchmaking to you, I swear."

Echizen rolled his eyes as Sakura enveloped her sister in a hug, earning cheers from Osakada from the sidelines.

"Right, now that _that's _over... Ryuzaki." His voice effectively stopped the cheering and caught all their attention. "About that date…"

"I understand, Ryoma-kun. There's no date, right?" There was that bittersweet smile again, and now that it was directed at him, he didn't understand how Sakura was able to feel relaxed about it at all. If anything, it was… unnerving.

"Hm, I guess everyone was wrong, then, Echizen-kun didn't really like you, did he?" Sakura butted in again. Did she never get tired of interfering? "At least, not in _that way…_ I see now. He was just going along with us for the sake of getting his revenge, and he even got you in it, Chibisaku. That's pretty smart of you, Echizen-kun," Sakura gave another sigh as she clung tighter to her sister. "It's all right, Chibisaku, there are a lot more fish in the ocean. Have you ever considered that nice boy from Class 1-B, Mizutani-kun? He plays baseball, I heard."

"Neesan, you promised no more matchmaking!"

"Hey! Hey!" Echizen interrupted, hands crossed in front of his chest. At the moment, everything was still tangled, and if he ever wanted to finally calm down these feelings of his, he knew that he should straighten this out right now. It wouldn't really do for him to go back into cursing everything in sight; it was really not good for his tennis. "I know I told you that we'd be getting payback, but I was serious when I was asking for a date." His sour expression was softened by the light blush that was growing. "I mean it, Ryuzaki, go out with me... Please."

He tried not to look at their reactions too closely—the other two busybody's reactions might piss him off, and Sakuno's might just… well, he didn't even know how he would react and that in itself wasn't good news—but it was hard _not_ to see the surprised expression on Sakura and Osakada's faces.

What was even harder not to see, however, was the bittersweet smile that insisted on staying on Sakuno's lips.

"I was serious, too," she said using the same committed voice she used on her sister a while ago, though this time, Echizen couldn't even imagine himself moving, much less applaud the way she showed her stronger side; not when it was used on him with that upsetting smile and the words it held wasn't in his favor anymore. "Ryoma-kun, I've given up on you."

xXx

He asked the same questions Sakura and Osakada did when Sakuno first told them that she had given up. He received the same reply as they did, too; crap about growing up and maturing and Sakura wouldn't shut up about his EQ and taking four years to realize their feelings for each other, which only led him to ask to himself: had he really been too late?

Upon reflection, it really was his fault wasn't it? (Heaven forbid he blame tennis and how it had practically occupied his every waking moment and kept him from noticing well, everything else. After all, tennis was often his answer to everything, so one could only imagine how baseless he had felt when, this time, tennis wasn't the solution to his problem) It was as if he had been the only one who hadn't grown up, hadn't matured at matters other than the little world that he knew so well, and now it was biting him in the ass—and hard.

Ryoma sighed, absent-mindedly petting Karupin. They had left him alone when he said nothing and kept staring, unbelieving, for five minutes, Osakada and their teacher giving him pitying faces before following Sakuno back to their little spot at the school grounds. He returned to their classroom after that, ignoring the bento he left uneaten since he figured Katsuo or one of the others would give it back later.

It was difficult having to face Sakuno after their particular talk, and he was even more silent and sulky than usual. He was thankful when school and practice when done and he could head straight home and take a nice long bath.

Karupin nuzzled his hand when he apparently stopped stroking him, too busy with his thoughts.

"What do you think I should do, Karupin?" he asked his cat, to which it answered by standing up and trotting to the door. "Are you going to leave me, too?" His voice sounded so whiny he wanted to hit himself with a tennis ball. Things really weren't looking up, he thought almost frustratedly, and sat up only to plop himself heavily back down on his bed.

It was then that the door creaked open and in came Ryoga, throwing him an orange as his way of asking for permission to enter.

"What do you want?" Without getting up, Ryoma deftly caught the orange with one hand, permission granted.

Ryoga comfortably seated himself on a chair. After a beat he casually announced, "We got disbanded."

Ryoma, seemingly deeply interested in the orange, didn't even pretend not to understand what he was talking about. "Yeah, so?"

"Sakura-san told me that Sakuno-chan gave up on you."

He stopped twisting the fruit around and slowly through the corner of his eyes half-glared at Ryoga. "…And?"

"But you're serious now, aren't you?" Here, he could see an infuriating smirk on his brother's face. A new target for his tennis ball. "Ever since that time I went with you to school, I knew you guys liked each other. 'S why I helped her in the first place."

Ryoma snorted, fully aware that that was only _one _of the main reasons, and his brother shrugged to that. "Anyway, point is, I think now's a good opportunity for me—"

"To get that I don't want you or any other nosy sibling butting in on my love life," Ryoma finished for him with a scowl. "You've already done enough, _thank you very much, Ryoga-niisan._" He sat up and tossed the orange back.

Ryoga caught it and with a sigh, ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, I get it. But how about some quick brotherly advice, 'kay? Nothing wrong 'bout that, yeah?"

"No."

"A friendly suggestion?"

"Karupin, scratch."

"Okay, okay!" Ryoga raised his legs, out of reach of the hissing feline and its sharp claws. "I'm leaving, back down, kitty! Jeez, no need to get defensive, Chibisuke." Cautiously, he made his way out the door mumbling 'What the hell did he think we were in—_Pokemon?_'.

Ryoma gave a soft scoff after it shut with a _click, _and had just plopped himself back down the bed when it opened again with Ryoga sneaking his head in.

"Just wanted to tell you not to give up and keep attacking. Get on the offensive, trust me, it'll work!" And with a wink, he was gone in time to miss the pillow thrown at him.

xXx

It made things considerably easier with them being seatmates, Ryoma had to admit, and maybe—just a tiny bit—he felt that he had to thank Sakura for this opportunity.

'Ryuzaki, are you free this weekend?' he wrote on his notebook in the middle of Japanese Literature. He opened it at an angle easy for her to see, and he caught her looking at it, too, but instead of a blush or a squeak (or any other reaction that told him she would consider it) she knitted her eyebrows slightly, sighed and turned her focus back to the bald guy in front talking about some dead poet and flowers. Ryoma held himself back from visibly gawking at her.

A beat later, his hopes were raised when she began scribbling something in her own notebook. Unfortunately, it had been the page and paragraph number that he was supposed to read out loud in class—the bald guy had apparently been calling him for recitation, damn him.

Not that Ryuzaki's apparent brush-off fazed him out, though. After all, he wouldn't be where he was now if it wasn't for his tenacity (which hadn't exactly been to his advantage when it came to Ryuzaki as it had been to tennis—or rather, it had been because his tenacity had been _too focused_ on tennis that it turned out this way… not that he fully blamed it on tennis, of course. He was sure his father had a hand in this _somehow, _'cause a perverted, tennis-freak father like that had to be at fault)and Ryoma had always been good at recognizing the problem and turn it around so that he won in the end.

Right now he was just facing a new move—rejection—but he'd seen it enough (too much maybe?) and it was time he faced it head on. The _real_ match was going to begin after classes end.

"Ryuzaki," he drawled even though he was clearly trying to prevent her from leaving through the door. The split-step often did wonders for him. "We need to talk."

She fidgeted, refusing to look at him. It was a good sign as any. "Don't you have practice, Ryoma-kun?"

"I do." He took her hand and proceeded to gently pull at her hand. "So walk with me. We can talk on the way."

She bit her lip. "O-okay." Ryoma smirked.

They didn't really get to talk, with the path to the courts surprisingly shorter than Ryoma thought it was (he never took notice of it anyway), with Ryoma not really knowing what to tell her (to tell the truth, he was just winging it, then), and with Ryuzaki probably not wanting to go back on her 'giving up on Ryoma-kun' plan.

Once they arrived, Ryoma brushed off whatever wolf-whistles and calls he got and used the 'buchou voice' he developed when he was made captain in middle school and firmly told Sakuno to "Stay. Sit. Call Osakada and cheer with her if you want. Just stay here."

He was glad it had as much of an effect on her as it did his members, because even after the (thankfully shorter) practice session, she was still quietly seated on the bench just outside the tennis courts waiting for him.

"Thanks for staying," he immediately told her when he was near enough, reminding himself to smile and really look the part, and then handed her a can of Ponta.

"It's nothing." Ryoma's smile grew cheekier when he saw a small hint of a blush as she took the proffered can. "Um, Ryoma-kun, I should really go home now."

He nodded and took her hand again, soliciting a questioning look from her. "I'll take you home." And in the same manner he used when he led her away from the classroom, he led her out of the school grounds.

Even though this time the path had been clear and long enough for them to have a talk, they remained silent, Ryoma preferring the quiet ambiance as he drank his Ponta and hoping that Ryuzaki felt the same way as she drank hers, too.

But once they were in front of her home, soda cans empty and thrown to a trash bin they passed on the way, Ryoma didn't wait for the chance for her to say good bye before he spoke his mind.

"You gave up on me," the words sliding off his tongue so much more easily than he thought it would made her nod once.

"I gave up on you," she solemnly repeated.

He nodded once, too. "But I'm not. Not yet." The grip he had on her grew tighter. "Sensei said you liked me for four years, right?"

She looked away and meekly said, "Yes."

He lightly tugged at her had, forcing her to look at him. She did.

"Four years, then," he said, golden eyes staring straight at her, dedicated and daring. "I'm going to ask you out, everyday, for four years. If after that and you still don't like me anymore…" He stopped. He didn't really plan on giving up even after four years—he wasn't a quitter after all—but he liked her enough to let her have her way if that was what she _really_ wanted. "…I guess I'll stop."

"But Ryoma-kun! You don't have to—"

"I can. I want to. I don't know what other people do for these kinds of things, so I'll do it my way." With his free hand, he took one of her long braids and started twisting it between his fingers, playing with it. "Every day, Ryuzaki, I'll do anything to get you to go out with me. Look forward to it." With a smirk, he kissed her hair braid. "I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning."

And with that, soft braided locks slid down his fingers as he turned around and left.

"T-That! The nerve of that boy! That's borderline sexual harassment! No, it's definitely already sexual harassment!"

"H-huh? Who…?"

"No way!" From behind the gates, Sakura came running towards Sakuno. She gripped her younger sister's shoulders and shook her. "No way am I letting that crude boy within ten-feet of you, Chibisaku! We're filing a restraining order!"

Sakuno squealed, "Nee-san!"

"I know a good lawyer. We'll have the documents arranged as soon as possible! And then I'll stay the night here; good thing I had the foresight to bring clothes, so we can go to school together. Ah, that creep better not try anything funny tomorrow…"

"What are you doing here?"

"Taking care of my sister, of course," Sakura huffed as though it was the logical thing to do. "Good thing, too. Who does Echizen Ryoma think he is, pestering you even though you said no just because he feels like it? He thinks he can? Well, he can't! I won't let him try and wait outside for you tomorrow, be sure of it, Chibisaku. He can stay there as long as he wants; make him wait it vain!"

Sakuno stared at her sister, looking defeated. She knew her house was out of the way from Echizen's, knew that he'd have to wake up early, dismiss the ride offered by their Momo-chan-senpai, and he wouldn't simply stop at that. He'd keep his word, and perhaps do more, because contrary to what her sister thought, Echizen _can_ do what he set his mind to. There was no helping it, that was Echizen Ryoma, after all; haughty and stubborn and defiant and, Sakuno inwardly sighed, dedicated, charming, and simply amazing.

Sakuno laughed under her breath, her voice softly echoing down the streets. It effectively stopped her sister's tirade. "I still like him, nee-chan." She proceeded to drop her head on her sister's chest. "I still really, really like him."

"Oh," said Sakura.

With a small voice, Sakuno asked, "What do I do now?"

Sakura clenched her fists. "Well, what else is there to do?," she said, voice still holding the authority of one that was a licensed teacher. "Eat your dinner, do your homework, prepare whatever you need tomorrow, and go to sleep. Come early morning, you'll rise and be ready to meet that boy when he comes pick you up. Simple as that."

"Simple as that," Sakuno echoed as Sakura slowly lead her back inside the house where Sumire was waiting for them with dinner.

xXx

The next day, Sakuno woke up to Sakura's gentle prodding.

It was a new feeling, having one other person fuss about her, even more so than Sumire ever did. It was just like when she was getting ready for her 'not-a-date' with Echizen, the way Sakura helped with her hair and clothes. She would have to get used to this, Sakuno thought, and she was excited at the prospect.

"Do you think he'll be there?" she asked Sakura as the older sibling tied the ends of her braid.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "He's been waiting outside since breakfast—maybe earlier. We would have invited him in, but grandmother and I thought he'd do fine in the yard."

Sakuno could imagine a cackle in her sister's voice, but was immediately taken by the fact that Echizen had been waiting for her for the past hour, at least. "Nee-chan!" she exclaimed, panic in her voice.

Without another word, Sakura released her sister's hair. Sakuno took this as permission to leave, and without any signs of her usual clumsiness, she picked up her bag and made her way out the door.

Sure enough, just outside the gate stood Echizen.

"I'm sorry, Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno said, blushing like she usually did.

Echizen saw her and smirked, possibly relieved that she was back to the way she was supposed to act around him. "I bet your hair took you hours to fix. Told you it was too long."

Sakuno huffed, though not from the fact that she had to run out of the house to meet him. "I'm sorry for making you wait, then."

Echizen shrugged. "It was worth the wait," he said as he took her hand and led her to school.

Sakuno smiled, squeezing his hand lightly. "Yes. It was worth the wait."

xXx

End

xXx


End file.
